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The University of Chicago^ "••" '•"' 

■ • • • • I i 



The Evolution of the District School System 
in the States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
and Connecticut 



A Dissertation 

Submitted to the Faculty 

of the 

Graduate School of Arts and Literature 

in Candidacy for the Degree of 

Master of Arts 



Department of Education 



By 
Grace Emily Storm 



Chicago 
June , 1917 



•• • • . ••" : ! : 

• •••• "'III 

■ ..• :,• -. 

• • • * * • 

• •• •, •••?•••• 

- • • • • ••• • > 

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•• ••: ::': :. :"■ -'.W • :''. '''' :\ '':': :• 

.• • • 



I 







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22 
52 



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An Historical Study 
Concerning 



The ETolution of the Diatrict 

School .System 

in the states of: 

Massachusetts 

Mew Hampshire 

Connecticut 



Chapter I, 
Chapter II. 
Chapter III, 
Chapter IV. 



The Evolution of the 
District in Massachusetts. 

The Evolution of the 
District in Kew Hainpshire 

The Evolution of the 
District in Connecticut. 

Comparison and Suimnary of 
the Evolution of the Diatrict 
in the three P>t8tea. 



'-l'^3 



Chapt. I. An Historical Study 

of the Evolution of the 
District School System in 
Maasachuse t ts . 



Brief. 

I. History of the Educational 

Legislation of Massachusetts, 
to 1827. 

1. ?roin 1642 - 1789 
a - Law of 1642 
h - Law of 1647 
c - Law of 1760 

2, From 1789 - 1827 
a - Law of 1789 
b - Law of 1800 
c - Law of 1817 
d - l&VT of 1827 



II. Srolution of the )i:3trict Systea in Ma3»<tchu8Gtt3. 

1, The ain^:le achool, held in the center of the town 
or settleBent, aa in: 

a. Poston 
h, Kewbury 

e, Dorcheotor 

d. Dedhaa 

e, T?oxb«ry. 

2, T>ie BSOTlng oehool, aa a result of the exisanaion of popu- 
lation • the single school vma KOYed to the outskirts 
from place to place, one achoolaaster teaching all 
schools, as in: 

&. Pljnaouth 
"b, i/elrose 

c. Hanover 

d, Wo burn. 

3, The divided school, wherehy each part of the tovm had ita 
own teacher, as in: 

a., Medford 

b. Jnujenburp 

c. t)8uaver8 

d. Manchenter 

e. Marlboroufth . 

4, "^enaa by which the early form; tiono of the district were 
designated. 

a. Angles 

Groton 
"b. ]^i visions 

Princeton 



c. Parts 

Haverhill 

7..iinG&8ter 

Dudley 

Karlbo rough 

Z*eoaiinater 

Chelfjea 

d. Pari eh 

e. Precinct 

Mil ford 
Laaoa3t«r 

Tisbiiry 

f. {Quarters 

Dan vers 
Paine r 
Easton 
Pelhaa 
Ashburnlian 

g. Hi oka 

Haeton 

liorth Tridgevrnter 
h. Squadrons or squadrants 

fJreenfield 

Karlborou^Th 
i. Streets 

lately 
J , ?arda 

liaaton 



J, Wards (continued) 
Milton 
Dudley 
Leominster. 

5. Districting of towns. 

a. Table giving names of tovms and date when they were 
formed into districts; while not using the term 
district yet were divided into parts having certain 
powers that belonged to the district: 

(1) Could draw proportion of money from town.b 

(2) Could superintend building or chcPse site of 
schoolhouse. 

(3) Could select teacher. 

(4) Could appoint committee from their own part to 
manage school affairs, 

b. Table giving list of towns and date of districting (us- 
ing term district), before 1768, 1789 and 1827. 

6. Support of districts. 

a. Land 

b. Taxes 

c. Tuition fees 

d. Emission bills 

e. Fines 

f. Mass. 3chool H'und 

g. Sale of herrings. 

7. Methods of Apportionment of school funds, to 1827. 
a. According to number of children in district. 



.^ 



"b, Aooording tu what they pay; 

o» Equally 

Ji According to Ko. of families in li strict. 
t \i» Accordincr to wefilth of scholurr., 
7^, According to Mo, of weeks set to each town. 
^t. Miacellaneoua methods, 
8, Gori:ltteeB and duties of: 

a. f^elcctnen 

1), CJeneral school conrdtteea 
o. Central school cocsnittees 

d. Inspection 

e. Diatrlcting 

f. Prudential 

g. "ruateeo 

b. Agents 



n 



History of the Educational Legislation of Llassachusetts 

to 1827. 

The first law of Massachusetts in regard to education 

was passed in 1642, and enjoined universal education but said 

1. 
nothing ahout schools. The state had the right to enforce 

education although no money was imposed upon those who refused to 

2. 
obey the law. 

The law which was the origin of the Com'Tion school system 
in ''Massachusetts was the famous enactiaent of 1647. This law re- 
quired of a certain population as corporate organizations to 
provide schools. 

In 1768 a law was passed which contained the germ of 
the district. The preamble stated that whereas towns and dis- 
tricts consisting of several precincts disposed to spend more for 
the instruction of youths than they were allowed by law to do and 
since no provision had been made for them to raise money, therefor e 
when the major part of the inhabitants of any precinct agreed 
on the building or repairing of any school house or any other 
charge for schools, and should agree on the sum, the assessors 

of the precinct were empowered to assess the same on the polls and 

4. 
estates within the precinct. 

In 1789 a law was passed which sanctioned the district 

formation, Hy this law towns having fifty families had to have 

six months schooling by a school master, and towns of two hundred 

families had to support a grammar school master. The school 

1, Records of the— errtrrniy in i.'lassachusetts J^y -tft New England 11,6-7 

2, Ibid 

3, r'assachusetts Charters and General Laws 1628-1779. ch, 58, 
186-187. 

4, Acts and Resolves of Mass, Bay IV, 1757-1768, 988. 



navters had to be grudualbea of soae college or university, and 

w«re required to produce a certificate of qualification froxo 

« lecumed miniater of the town or noig>>borhood, and also a 

oertifiCAte of moral character from a mlMiater or fron a select 

■an of their own town. The laoet iraportunt pwrt was, thiit 

towns were authorized to divide t>»oir territory and fix the 

1. 
lifflita of B'jhool 'lintrlotn. 

The taain points to he noted in the law of 1709 are: 

1, CurriculuxB enlarged frow readinp; and writing to 
include ■''nitrllah Innjruape, arithraetlc, orthorcrnDhy, and decent 
behaTlor. 

2, PeooRnition of the aohool diatrict. 

3, Inspection of the schools for the first time. 
4« 'Uonoy for the support of the schools was to be 

raised by taxation upon t)te poles, and ruteable est' teu of the 

in>)abitants. 

In 1800 the power to tax was Kiv*n to t>io people of 

the school diotrlcto, TViey were authorised to hold noetir./-;i, to 

ohoone a clerk, to decide upon a place for a school houne, and to 

raise aaaney by taxation for buyinr: lnn<l, ^nd for building, 

2. 
repairing and furnlahlnju: the )iouoe. 

It was not, however, until serenteen years later by 

the act of 1G17, thnt nchooj diatrlots were jaade corporations 

in nazae, authorised to nue, and empowered to hold, in fee,ainiple 



T^ ACta fitid T.?4ws ot th<» CoflSaonwo.iltVi of Viioo, 1 70tf. 

pp. ^Ti-A'.iO. 

2. Acts and ' o:jolve« of 'usa. 1798-99, pp. 455-457. 

3, Taws of the Coranonwoalth of :ao». :<ay 1U15 to '^ev, 1616 
Tol. VII 397-398 1 ch.XIV. 



or otherwise, real or pergonal eatatea for the uaeo of the 

schools , 

An act pasned in 1827 narked the Tre iteat po"»«r of 
1. 
the school dintrict. The tsain prinoipleg in regard to the dio- 

trlctg in the law of 1827 are: 

1, "taxation of the in>^ahitanto of the district to be 
applied l)y the cotaraittee of the district to the building or 
rejjairin/:; of the richoolhouse or tlie purchase of a house or build- 
ing or land for a achool house. This is essentially the ease as 
given, in the law of 1789, 

2, Power of tVie inhabltsints of the district to decide 
on the place for a achool house, 

S, Power to raise nonoy for erection and repair of 
school houae. 

4. "transfer of the power of the town to the district 
as to cora-'lttees - the Prudential coECjitteeaan, now having 
charge of the f!l strict, 3o that the diatrict could hire ita own 
teachera. 

The history o f tv.e i volution o£ the "iiatrict . 

The first law passed In ?.'a3oachuoett3 in regard to edu- 
cation required that every child in the atute ahould te educated. 

In 1647 a nore atrini:ent ordinance laraa paaaed in 

The reg'jrd to the eotablinhnent of achoola. Intereyted as they were 
Single 
School in education, the inhabitrmto of ra^iny of the towns hastened at 



L. Laws of the Coaaon'^ealth of ''aaa. 18 •5-1828 Vol.X . .-.557 to 561. 



once to coEiply with the law. Indeed, even before t'ia ;ict 

of the General Court of the Colony aoveral towns felt ao 

otroiigly the need of schools that they eotabliahed them before 

1. 
1647. In 1635 Boston had a school. In 1636 iijr, -^illiaia 

.'itherell a^jreed tn iceKp achool in 'jharlestov/n for twdve 

monthn at a Oiilary of 40. Hewberry hired Anthony >oraerby 

3. 
in 1639 to keep school. 

These early towns -^ere without doubt, f « - xn i^un era 

during the first years of their aettleaenta, 7or safety fron 

the attacks of the Indiana they fjrouped thetaoelve.; '.xn closely 

together ;^.3 poaaible, lo that becr.use of the uu .iuity of numbera 

•n^ie and the condensed fom of the aettlenonta at first they had 
r>irprle 
School only a single school, TJiis single school we nay consider aa the 

first utep in the derelopnent of the iiatrict ayaten in Massa- 
chusetts. 

Kewberry had a ainijle school up to 1716. :)orche3ter had 
5. 6 7 

a school in 1639, and -^edhaja froia 164"i to 1717 when the in- 
habitants beg !,n to conoicier the difficulty of one school for all 
parts of the expanding town, and to debate on aoae other plan. 



1, ^'/inioor . "^he "emorial '^iatory of 1 oaton. Vol. IV p. 237. 

2, "'^rothintThac! - ?U story of CVarleiitown. p, 65 

3, Turrier - ''istory of ITs-wberry, p. 395. 

4, Currier - Victory of rewberry pp. 3 6-403. 

5, Ornutt - ^'istory of ^orcTieuter p. 29 

6, "^edham '•iistoric'^l Petristsr. Vol. I. B6-89. 

7, Thld - Yol. Ill 91-92, 

8, Ibid - ol. Ill 91-92. 



eptions 
o the 

chool 



1. 
Roxbury hud a sintjle echool in 1646. I found altogether twenty- 
one towns whose hictorieis showed that ooon after scttleiaont they 
estubliched slnt^e ochoola. 

However, there were several inetrmcen vfher« there 
were exceptions to the jicneral rule of the town starting with 
the ainj^le school, iilton was incori orated in 1640,*and the 
first refer once to schools was in 1669 when iS. Tucker was 

chosen eohoolsaaster for the west end of town, and Thorns Voae 

3. 
for the east end. Jiither the history is at fault, not having 

obtained the record of the first 8in<ile school, or else the 
town srew quickly, ;uid periiaps the xaatter of schooling being 
delayed, when the imtter was brou^t before the town, the inhab- 
itants found they needed two schools instead of one. so it was 

4. 
a divided school. Rutland was incorporated in 1722. In 1733 

thA town voted to choose three imetn • a eMmittoe* to yrovide 

a ochoolioaoter, voting at the earae tiae to Jiave the school 

two-thirds of the time in the laidale of the town and one third 

5. 
at the west end, the novintj school. This divioion of the 

school raust have been aads to acooimaodate a greater number of 

settlers, or a aor« widely scattered coEBiunity than was usual 

•^ith the majority of towns at the corresponding age of itutland. 

Townsend is another settlement that bears no record of a single 

sdiool first. In 1744 the town voted to raise tooney for the 

•upi-'Ox-t of a school ii.nd said that hhc school should be kept at 

different dwellint; houoco in different parts of the town, in 



1. Drake - Hist, of ivoxbury pp. 19H-19:5 

2. Telle - History of Ifilton r. 318 

3. Ibid 

4. Hoed - History of Rutland . 25 

5. Ibid T . ^'^ 



\ 



1, 

the north, in the middle, and south partB, or th*: noving school. 

The history oi the Bchools of this town frow 1744 on ohow them 

kept in different pl?iC08. Mr. Sacon, author of the history of 

Dunstable, rjives it uc his opinion tJiat uhe jxrMt echool of 

2. 
Dunstable was a liovinj school ostablish. d iw 1748, but does not 

give the reason for hio atatemcnt. 

As the population of the towns increased and spread 
froa the center outward, those living in the outskirts had to 
travel n lon^j distance to attend the nchool in the town. In the 
severe winters the roads were alciost impassiible , so one can 
understand why the Inh/ibitanta in the no re renote rarts objected 
to sending their children to the school in the center. So 
Instead of goinK to the school, the sctiool e;iiac to them, for a 
length of tine proportionate to the taxes they paid, by order of 
the Helectnen or sorae other ooatnittee. This was called the 
"moving or perarsbulatory school" and was sc called because the 
schoolraaster went fron one part of the town to another, holding 
school a certain lensth of tine in ef>^h part. 

In PlyKouth before 1699 it wr^s voted that the upper 

society should have the master one quarter, Kl river another, 

and that in the next he should be settled no farther south than 

3. 
Jolin Oray's. Melrose shows the record of a raovin?: school from 
4. 5. 

1702-1744. Hanover had the Eiovin{: school from 1704 to 1750. 

Wobum shows a clear developraent of the sin^^le school 

to the novin<^ school, to the divided and hence the district. 

The tjraiairiar school in Wobum was orifjinally kept in one flace 



1, iiawteile - History of Townoend p. 224 

2, Kaoon - History of Dunstable r.l82 

3. Davis - History of Myriouth Colony p. 110 

4. GX-oso - History of UcItooq P. 105-188 



only - the center of the town. Put at a t?eneral neeting 

in 1706-1707 it was agreed: "Per 13 2iuc>» as our ^'own of vo- 

l>urn is situT-ted very scattering and remote so that the town 

cannot be benefited aliVe by the schooliaanter's keepin»r the chool 

in the center of the town at all timeri that therefore the ochool- 

naster for the tirae being shall keep the school one quarter of 

the year in the center of the town, and t>)e ot^-er three qujirtero 

in three of t^^e rtnote quarters of the ''"own, accoraing to the 

1. 
direction and appointment of the selectmen for the tine being. 

T>ii8 vote laid the foundation of the nioving school aysten. by 

it the graociar school and its instructor were taoved around into 

the different sections of the town. At first only three of the 

reraote quarters were named for the school, and it was to be 

kept for the sane len/^th of time in these as in the center. 

Put as the town extended its scttleiaents the achool seesjs to 

have increased In the places lceT)t in the outskirts. In 1713 

a school house was built in the center, rnd evidently stopped 

the moving systea for six years, but in 1718-19 it t s voted 

that the grannaar school Blaster for the tine to cone should "Oo 

into the quarters of the town, A similar vote is recorded in 

4 5 6 

1729-9, 1737-8, and 1741-2. In 1741-2 the town appointed 

the 'Selectmen a cotar-iittee to provide a grararaar school master 

7. 
and voted that he should siove into the iifferent quarters. 

"^e town then chose a comittee of seven "to agree a.nd determine 

on the several plnces the JJchoalaaster shall keep the ichool at, 

1. iewall - "ist. of oburn - 228-239. 

2. 3ewell - rist. of oburn - 229. 

3. IVid 

4. Ibid 

5. Ibid 230 

6. I"Hd 

7. Ibid 230 



in said Tom, and the tice at each place the year ensuing. 

■^ia Conrlttep should report to the 'Jelectnen yho hnd the power 

2. 
of directing the siaster to keep the terzaa of time a,greod upon. 

The report vrhich the comaittee frare to the electraen is very 

interesting and is as follows: 

i^at t^e school should nore: 

1. To Tieut. >:^tiauel Kendall's on the 32nd day of !:iarch 
inot. and there "kept till Kay 9th. 

2. 'Hicnce in the achool '-^n ,e in the center till July nth. 

3. "^en to Kew Tridge "house of Martha Lidd'a or else- 
where" till Auf^st 8th. 

4. *nh;ence ^n fT^e house of lieut, To^eph ^ichardoon, :^r, 
tin >ept amber 19th, 

5. "^hence to the Precinct, at sorae place that they shall 
affree tpon till ^ceaber 31at. 

6. •'fierce to the barter's Quarter till flrat V.onday in 

March next. 

3. 
Up:ned by the Con-:ittee ^*arch 10, 1741. 

In the noTing school 3:/:5*;cr; of voburn fron 1707 till 

1742 the plsee5 in the outnkirts had increaned frosj three to five. 

r>o inconvenient vnn this method of movlnp- the '5c*^ooi that one 

teicher, ^\^i'^5ter •'o.vler, petitioned the to-»n oitu y«;ur, I'^GC, with 

no success, however, to make hiis soae additional allowince 

besides his salriry, "In consideration of the fatigues he hath 

4. 
had by roaaon of there beifHr so xau-ny removals of 'is achoola," 



1. e^ell - f^ist. of oburn p. 23C 

2. Ibid 
5. Thld 

4. Ibid o. 'IT^l, 



Hot only were there disagrreeutle features connected 

with the HOTing school on the part of the achoolonster, but 

also on the part of the inhabitanta of the quarters where the 

Bovinsr achool caae. There were often many renoviila during 

one year which resulted in the gVortneisa of the time achool 

was kept in eoae of t>»e quarters, and there is one instance 

where a section failed to have the «3chool ap:->ortioned to it 

for t'iirty yearo. This inaticce was in Button ;nd, a part of 

'^oburn where twenty-eight of whose inhabitinta petitioned 

the ''velectnen aV>out the year 1742, saying they had r: t had 

the school amox^r then for n«arly thirty year a, and asking that 

1. 
it night be kept aaong thea that year. 

In 1760 "nhurn t eg;.in a new plan of rlvinr- nchooling 
to its citizens, '^.^t year it was voted that "tt-.ey aould al- 
low to each of the extreiae parts (the east, south, and west 
parts) - - the sua of 33 pounds, 6 shillings, and 8 pence - - 
to be draughted out of their ""reaaury b^ each provided they 
appropriate said aoney in hiring soae suitable person to keep 
a school for the instructior of their children before the first 

day of JTarch next. Votes siailar to t^-in en- ..jsjl- i in 

3 4 5 6 
1761, 1773, 1774, and 1775, /roa these vote:. ;e aee that the 

fflOTin ' nnhool >iad fiver way to the divided ochool v/h.ere the 

different parts oul i draw out of the Tre.ioary their proportion 

of aoney and hire their own teacher, instead of suUiittinK to 



1. ^^ewell • rist. of oburn p. 233 

2. Ibid 

3. Ibid 234 

4. Ibid 

5. Ibid p. 234 

6. Ibid. p. 254 



the will of the Selectmen or ^one other connilttee as to the 

time and length of their school in "the moving school.* low 

e-ich •-irt >-''>d ita own teacher. Tbic evolution ia just an 

illustration of the ri0veraent3 takin^^ place in the majority 

of the towns of Jilassachuaetta during this period, a movement 

which Wiis sanctioned hy the laws of 1768 and 1789. 

T^ c consuiafflation of the ilistrict forrs.ition was 

re'ched in 1792 when a conmittee of seven was apoointed to 

1. 
divide the town into districts. In 1794 there were nine dis- 

2. 
trict!5. I found fifty-one towns whose early history showed 

the moving school gystera, I.'one, however, gcive such a distinct 

and well narlced evolution as "oburn, 

"^"he "Hie inconveniences of the -nvirii' c,f.v,ool h • v-e teen 

i vided 
-chool. mentioned - the frequent retnovals of the school m.i.nt<:r in -nany 

instances, resulting in the shortness of the school terra in 

each of t'^'f^-- "sections, the inconvf?r;lence t t.iio scJioal-n-^-ater as 

seen by ;.3ter .'owler's petition - all t>:cse v?ore factors 

that resulted in the eatablis^^ment of the divided school, where 

each part hud ita o?m teucher, and was but another step toward 

the district. 

Medford in 1720 org^iniaed two schools one for the 

we^t en 1 of the to^m, and the other for the east end, each with 

3. 
a separate te icher. Lunenburg in 173; .a payiri?; four achool- 

nasters for keeping school showing that there was a divided 

4. 
school Pit th t tine. )anvern evidently passed from the single 



1. 3ew^ll - » int of '/obum p. 414 

2. Ibid 

3. TTn> er - "iatory of e iford 287,. 

4. Records of Lunenburg 1719-1764 - p. 79. 



school to the divided school. In 1711 there was a vote for 

1. 2. 

a "Scolle y.aster" In 1736 it was voted to erect four schools. 

3. 
In 1765 a three months school wag kept in each parish, and 

4. 
there were ten parishes or sections of Danvers. Prom about 

the year 1746-1770 three different schools supported in three 

different sections of the town, and having separate teachers 

5. 
were employed in Wenhara. Then, the one exception to the general 

6. 
rule the moving school w^a resorted to again. Just whether 

it wis due to scarcity of funds or scarcity/ of population or 

for what reason the history does not sts,te. Finally in 1782 

7. 
the former system of having the three schools was resumed. 

Ahout 1699 the tov/n of Plymouth was having the moving school 

8. 
operated in three parts of the town. In 1747 it was voted 

9. 
that the town should have three permanent schools. In 1721 

Lewton voted to have only one school among them hut Samuel 

Miller, at the westerly part of town offered a room in his house 

10. 
for a school so the town accepted it for a moving school. 

In 1723 it was voted that the school be kept in three places 

half the time at the west quarter, a. quarter at the north, and 

11. 
a quarter at the south, the moving school. Then in 1754 it 

was voted to have three schools in tovm, each three months, to 

12. 
be standing schools. Then In 1763 the district itself 



1. Fanover - History of Danvers p. 145 

2. Ibid 146 

3. Ibid 

4. Ibid 

5. Alien Ilistorv of Wenham 113 

6. Ibid 114 

7. Ibid 

8. Davis - I^i story of Plymouth 110. 

9. Ibid 113. 

10. Jackson - Fist, of Keuton p. 66 

11. Ibid. 

12. Ibid p. 67 



■:■' .<3 



1- 

appeared - "voted to h.ave four ilfjtricta and four schools." 

2. 
In 1738 MHnchester wis having a novlng school. In 1759 the 

town was aanessed twelve pounds, to be diatriVuted to the three 

3. 

gchool-r.i stresses in the three partn of the town. rlt,orough 

in 1745 had the movin/^ school system in the six squadrons, 

or parts of town. Fowever, in 1762 there was a vote to erect 

4. 
3ix new rjchool-houoeg. Ve cannot he aure th, t the places 

for the six school-houses corre<?pondfid to the first six divisions 

mentioned, hut the very fact th^.t there ';rere the sajne nunber 

The p^ives evidence that the divided gchool which ensued, as a rule 
Divided 
School, when the school-houses were built developed fro'r. the moving 

school in ]i«arlboroup:h. After the noviii^ nchool in Prooicline 

in 17B4, a vote w n pasned at the ^own ra»;eting whlchlgives 

clcirly the trnnsition fro the moving school to the divided 

school. "Voted" that schools be kept by suitable naaters 

where they njay best accomodate e-^nh n^^trt of the town, for the 

terra of t'"ree months in the winter season, and that a suitable 

master le employed to keep school the other nine months in the 

achool-hounp in the middle ■ f ft'C town" - and tvie two women's 

schools be keot where thev will bent accomodate each part of the 

5. 
town for the term of three months in the sun er season.** 

Ey t>>i- vote t^e outskirts were to bf -nrovided with their own 

school-master 3, for both the winter and t^^e sunMcr seasons as 

^ell as V-'Q center of town. 



1. .Tac'cson - 'Uat. of rewton p. 67. 

2. 3amson - ^lat. of "'ancVester 207. 

3. Tbid - 208. 

4. Hudson - ^'iat. of ».'arlborough pp. 212-213. 

5. "Ustory of Froolcline p. 70. 



w 



We have followed the development of the unit of 
schooling fro i the one school situated in the center of the 
■ettlement^ to the moving school which was a result of the 
spreading out of the single school to the outskirts. Because 
of the inconvenience of the moving school many of the portions 
that had had the moving schools, increasing in population de- 
sired a school of their own so vre find the divided school or 
the sections where the districts originated . 

Kow these units, hefore they were Xnown as districts 

,/ere desi^-^nated by various names. In many instances the names 
Early 

Forms we:>"e used merely for convenience in location, that is, the 
of the 
District . divisi 'ns were nerely geographical and did not have nny of the 

powers of the later districts. However, in many of these early 

parts can he found sone of the powers of t>ie district itself. 

Sometimes a part of the tovm was allowed to build its own 

school-houses or he subject to a committee from its niunbers 

instead of being subject to the Town Oommittee or the Selectmen, 

or it could draw its '.proportion of school money. 

Groton in 1758 granted twenty oounds for reading and 

1. 
writing schools in the "several angles of the town". That the 

angles had con.iiittees appointed from their own sectio/is similar 

to the later prudential committees is shown by the following 

vote covering the districts in 1769" to see what allowance the 

to^jim will mal<:e such persons as have, or may direct the school- 
It 
house in the several angles of the town". 



1. Putler - Hist, of Groton 220. 
l*.Ibid p. 221. 



^< 



In 1785 TeTenty pounds was /rrsnted for the several angles and 

1. 
It wr 8 voted to have two niore ,inf:ler?. About 1790 the term 

2. 
district cane into use instead of an,i:le. 

Another n^me of the early diotriot ■f-ift "division". 
Princeton ir 1769, giving a list of f'.niltes in town, and as- 
aip-ninf them to their owv ii-itricts gpealca of then f-8 the 
"Middle Hvision", "Southerly ")i vision", "•Vesterlv nviaion" and 
"Northerly "Jivision". 

'^he name "parta" wan naturally nged rather cor.nonly. 

Ill 1723 three new Bchool-houses were ordered to be built by 

Haverhill, on« in the north p^rt of town, one in the north-west 

4. 
and the other in the went part. The buildinr of school-houaea 

in certain parts naturally tended toward the district. 

Lancaster voted in 1724 th;i t fifty pounds bf! divided "each 

part of the town according to tho pay belonning to each part. 

In Dudley in 1740 the town was divided into three parts and 



-> 5. 



each p;-.rt wag to dr w itei oroDortion of thirty poun Js and use 

6. 
it for 3c>^ooling its division. Urailarly the voters in the 

north-west psrt of ''p.rlborough were allowed to dr vw tv>eir pro- 

7. 
portion of acViool money in 1748. In 1767 Leominster was 

divided into three parts for schooling and voted nixty-six pounds 

1. Butler - ^Untory of Groton p. 2:U 
?,. Ibid 

3. ^^anaford - lU st . of irinceton 185-186. 

4. Chaee - History of 'TaverbiiT ?.65. 

5. Marvin - TTist. of f.ancaster p. 189 

6. ^^jdley T. Pec. 91 

7. Hudson - 'Uat. of "arlborowrh 212-213. 



for scTioollrif^, and three raen v^ere c>^oRen in each third part 

1. 
of the town +" ^ijprriTitend t^-^e work. ''"13 committee appears 

to be similar to the early prudential comnittees. Chijsea in 

1708 >iad comnittees appointed for each of tlie three uarta of 
2. 

town. In Woburn t.hp -.r->i,,al H t^ict orifrinated in the jarish. 

About 1778-1787 auch queationa as the appointment of money, 

selection of teachers, when, where, and how long the nchools 

should be kept seenf ti v, ve been left to a raajori'y of the 

3. 
inhabitants of each pari si of 'oburn. In 1792 the town waa 

4. 
divided into districts. 

Precinct «■■ r- or,,, ^>pr terra used to deBif'-- + ^ f <^ o riy 

district. In 1756 a school-hourse w s authorised to le built in 

5. 
the e- sterly precinct of I'ilford. Lancaster in 1757 voted 60 

for free schools, and voted fn f t'-pre ^.hould >'p p p,r-imnar achool 

6. 
in each -^recinct. In 1790 tVie free holders of '^issbury v.eld a 

meeting to hear the re^i^ueat of that part of "^isbury c?>lled 

"TToneeohole" to see whether the Towt, o^* '" sbury would pass a vote 

7. 
that "^^omseshole" be :5et off as a precinct. It was passed 

that ToniBGshole" ahould become a precinct, provided it wouldy 

8. 
support itrj oATi school-master. 



1. /ilder - ^^istory of Leominster. 7."^ 

2. f'hrijnberlain - Trigtory of Hhtloea II 335 

3. ->ew|'ll - ^'istorv of 'oburn p. 41C 

4. Ibid 

5, T'caiou - Vistor- of ^ilford 2C0 

6, 'larvin - "i story of Lancaster 257 

7, Ti sbury Town Records 276-277 

8, Ibid. 



/ 



Early 
forms 
>f the 
iBtrict, 



DwiTers in 1736 voted to erect four schools la the 

paris>) or town and a'pointed five men fron one quarter to 

have charge of t>-f- erection ir tVi'»- nuarter, four in another 

1. 
quarter, four In another and four in vnother. In 1752 i'alraer 

3. 
and f'agton in 1754 were divided into four quartern, and in each 

quarter the inhahitants met together, and letennined where tyieir 

.school should he kept. In 1760 it ws voted th.t each quarter of 

4. 
the town of l^aston should draw its proportion of arihool money, 

5. 
This was done hy a person c>-MTsen ir, eacV> of thn quarters, ' ow 

we see the heginninf? of the irudential ;;ora .ittee Plan th-it 

distinguished the district formation. Pelham in 1761 allowed 

6. 

its quarter.^ to l^uild their own school-houses. AshVuirn^?.ci 

7, 
districts al no evolve i fron the quarters. .aston set '.aide 

8. 
in 1768 heside t^e four quarters a center district or "rick". 

Forth Bridgew-nter voted to divide the precinct into four ricks 

for the grarwnar schools in 1784, and as stated by tbe autror 

9. 
these riclcs were actually districts, 

tTt t many of these e-rly diviaions were identical with 

the district as to pover hao heen seen. 'Peliuxm in 1709, at a town 

aeetinr, anlred if there was not soxne raethod by which each "school 

ric'r" could huild and inaintain itn o'tn ichool-houses. ''ere we 



see fhe transfer of aith^rity from t 



t'c "ric]c"r)r ii strict 



1. "ansnn - "intor/ of >.nver3 145. 

2. '"enple - T^i story of t&lrner 2;. 9. 

3. "haffin - T'Ustory of ^aaton 382-383. 

4. Ibid 

5. Ibid 

6. Prlner - history of Telhain 225. 

7. >terns '''istory of Ishburnham 332, 

8. tJhaffin - Kiatory of Haaton p. 383. 

9. "incman - "istory of Iridgewater. 

10. Patenter '^istory of Pel^an 227. 



Several tuwna cilled tv eir early districts "squadrons" 

or B^ualranta, In 1774 Greenfield voted to divide the di»* 

triet or tuarn into/ ' ., rja i^ons* for the test aflv~nt'irc of the 

1. 
pnVlio schools. At t>ic iu^^-^e iaeetiU(r it was v t: ■ rnat the 

aquadron that convened at t)ic school house in the street should 

"'^ 

draw ita proportion of money accordlnfr ♦o its achol-itrs. 

•**^i3 sounds very auch .:. ■ t .vc-re diatricta ::ii ce they had 

the power to withdraw their 3oney. In 1793 the tera district 

-»a:i used for the first tine, ^ros 1749 to 1790 ..,rl borough 

4. 
called '^er early iistricto squadrons. In 179G there »ere 

seven a^UHdrona or iiatricts in 'fiarll^rough, and e^:!.ch aqua iron 

5. 
had its school -hosjse. 

\n odd character i 2atj '>n of the early district occurs 
Sarly 

'''orsis in the history of "hately, where the term used io atreot. "^he 
of the Jj. 

Istrict^tateaent in thi3: In 17H4 the to«n raised 18 to be divided 

into three e'lual partFs, 6 'J^T-^ *» c street. ''he " -i' ?>i'it 

three aen irere chosen to ap^^ortioy. the mojitiy tells ua tl.ci.t these 

»treet3 stood for three scctiouB of towi, and were really 

di'^trt rtss , t.ckin' t.h- nirio of s^rc^rf. r.ra'^ ;tlv Tr^r. V^b rlaces 
■tf-ere the school houstsa vare Ij&ited, iiiistow, rtlio]; had been 

using "school ricks" to leainnate its school districts, ia 1779 



1, "^^-^orapaon - ''iatory of ireenfield '-ol 1.584 

2. I'tid 

3. I"bid 586 

4, ^udBon - "iatory of .larltorough Iil3-217, 

5. Ibid n7. 

6, "^em^le - *'i story of Vb tely \.130 



I 



changed the name to vrards. In 1785 I.lilton was divided into 

9 

four districts or v/ards and i)udley in 1788 voted to see if 

the town would divide the school wards and ra;ake three wards 

3. 
or districts. Leoninnter never used any other terra tut 

"wards". In 1791 a cornriittee reoorted that the town should 

4. 
be divided into seven districts to be c;.illed wards. Down 

5. 
to 1820 the word district was never used. These v^ards v/ere not 

formed specifically as was necessary in legally . constituted 

school district but merely bv designating the persons v/ho should 

6. 
send their children here or there. In 1822 a vote was 

7. 
passed that the town shoulri not be divided according to law. 

8. 
'^hrourh the year 1824 the terr.i wards was used. 

■^he la,w of 1768 gave its sanction to the district 

formation. Fowever formation into districts had begun as earily 

9. 
as 1714. As has been di^^-cussed the separation into units 

that had certain powers of the districts, although they were 

given other ripjrr.es , occurred in many of the towns. Following is 

a list of V'e towns tha.t divided for school purposes, the nrjnes 

of, the units, and the dete of t-eir division. In every case 

they were marked by some distinguishing feature of the district 

as : 

1. Privilege of building school-houses. 

2. Privilege of dra.wing their proportion of --loney, 

3. Comnittee from one part either to select school- 
master, determine place of school-house or to draw that part's 
proportioi:. of money. 

4. In s-ime cases the division so named v/as called a 



I 



1. Chaff in '"ist. of Easton 584. 

2. "'eele ^^ist. of ^-iTton 221. 
5. Dudley Tovm Records 298. 



•jrj T ,j -. -.-, TT-; ,-.+ 



17/1 



t ( t 



district - i. e. "divided into three precincts or districts". 

Twelve of t>ieae formations were raade Lefore the 
law of 1768; twenty before the la-, of 1789 ani the whole twenty- 
four before the law of 1827. 



Town 



Date JTo, Districts. 



Reference 

Abbot H. of Andover 519 
Hist, of }*rookline 65 
Chase H, of Haverhill 265 
^Tanson n.of ^> nvers 145 
Diidley T, Rec. 91 
Dux. Teacher Pec. 210 
Allen-F. of \'erihan 113 ^ 
Parker-The Town of Arling.21 
Hudson-Hist of Liarlborou^h 212 
Ballou-iTist. of Milford 2o0 
Ten}-,jle-HiBt. of i'alnier 2G9 
Chtaf fin-Wist, of Ifiaston 383 
Parnenter-niat. of Pelhain 225 
T'ud^^on-'^'ist. of ?'arlborou{!;h 212 
Kraerson-'r'iat.of :)ouglaB 89 
'Tilder-Mist. of Leominster 73 
I«utler-f'i3t.of Groton 220 
Hanaford-Hist.of Princeton 184 
Thompson-^ist.of Greenfield I 589 
Dwell'y and :li:n::ono.t4>ff^H-^—.^v\,'^*^.M 
Sew^l-TTist.of 'Voburn 410 
T.fa;pWin-Hist.of Lancaster 349 
Sawtelle-'Tist.of '"ownsend 220 
Teraple-Tfist. of Vhateley 130 
^''inf^.an-'^iat.of !, Bridge water 
•^elle-^Hist.of Vilton 321 
Ht^an-Fist.of -'eatford 311 
Fitchburg Te^^^^Siexs Pec. 19 
Vudaon-Wist^of "arlborough 217 
Tisbury TeSaY. Rec. 276-277. 



Following is a table a'^owing a list of t>i irty-ei.^ht 
towns, and the date of their formation into districts using the 
word* district." Out of t>.e t^; irty-eight , seven districted before 



Andover 


1714 




"Precincts" 


Brookline 


1716 


3 


'recincts 


"averhill 


1723 


3 


parts 


"ir^nvers 


1736 


4 


quarters 


udley 


1740 


5 


parts 


Hixbury 


1741 


4 


parts or quarters 


..•enham 


1746 


3 


:?ecti ons 


Arlin?^ton 


1746 




Precincts 


Karlborourh 


1749 




Squadrons 


Kllford 


1750 




Precincts 


Palmer 


1752 


4 


quarters 


.3 ton 


1754 


4 


quarters 


rftlham 


1761 




quarters 


Marlborough 


1762 


6 


squadrons 


oup:las 


1764 


5 


squadrons 


eoninoter 


1767 


3 


parts 


roton 


1769 




Ari;?les 


T-inceton 


1769 


6 


squadrons 


reenfield 


1770 


4 


parts 


[an over 


1772 


4 


qu-nrters 


Ifoburn 


1778 




Parishes 


■•xncaster 


1782 




3quadrpns 


iwnsend 


1783 


7 


squadrons 


>iateley 


1784 




.streets 


.Pridpewnter 


1784 


4 


ricks 


i Iton 


1785 


4 


wards 


='3trord 


1788 


6 


squadrons 


itch burg 


1789 




.Quarters 


'arlboroufTh 


1790 


7 


squadrons 


'isbury 


1790 




Precincts 



6. i/ilder 'fist, of Leominster 74. 

7. Ibid 

8. Ibid 

9. Abbot - Fistory of Andover 519. 



tVie law of 1768, fov.rteen "before the law of 1789, and thirty. 
seven "before the law of 1827. We must remerater , however, 
that many had had the a.ctual district before the dates given 
although not named as districts. 



Town 



Worcester 

Duxl'ury 

A"birgton 

Palhain 

I'ewton 

Lanca.ster 

Dsrver 

Doug la. a 

Dunstable 

Ashburnharn 

Lee 

Grafton 

Ashburnharn 

PTairfield 

Lancaster 

I-alden 

Palmer 

Fitchburg 

Groton 

Faverhill 

"larshf ield 

Kewton 

Tisbury 

Ivewbury 

Dorchester 

\7oburn 

Greenfield 

Andover 

SprinF;f ield 

Easthar.pton 

Easton 

'ATiately 

Ashburnhsm 

Hadley 

Korthampton 

Hanover 

Danvers 

De dharn 



be :;'ore 



Date L'o.of Districts, 



1731 


5 


1735 


4 


1755 


5 


1756 


5 


1763 


4 


1764 




1766 


4 


1774 


6 


1774 


7 


1780 


10 


1784 


4 


1785 




1786 


9 


1788 


3 


1789 


3 


1789 




1789 


9 


1790 


7 


1790 


13 


1791 


4 


1791 


a 


1791 


6 


1791 


4 


1792 




1792 


4 


1792 


9 


1793 


5 


1795 


12 


1795 


9 


1797 




1800 


11 


ISOO 




1801 


9 


1803 


3 


1807 


4 


1808 


7 


1809 


10 


1838 


11 



Reference. 

Wall-TTist.of Worcester 170 
Winsor-Fi St. of Duxbury 73 
Hobart-Hist.of Abington 25 
Parrnenter-Hist.of Pelhan 225 
Sr.uth-Hist.of Hewton 247 
:.'.arvin-Hist .of Lancaster 268 
Smith-Hist.of Dover 208 
Emerson-Hist. of Douglas 88 
i:ason-Hist.of Dunstable 116 
Stearns-Hist .of Ashburnharn 333 
Records of 'the town of Lee 253 
Pierce-'^ist.of Grafton 33 
Stearns '^-'^ist.of Ashburnharn 333 
Dyer-Hi St. of Plainfield 42 
r'.arvin-"^"'ist.ofLancaster 350 
Corey-"^fist.of :':alden 631 
Temple-Hist.of Palmer 290 
Fitchburg Town Rec.II ,42 
Butler Hist, of Groton 222 
Chase "ist. of Haverhill 457 
RicV;ards-"f"'"ist . of riarshfield lo4 
Jackson-Hist . of Kewton 246 
Tisburv Town Pec. 285 
Currie|^-"!!ist.of llewbury 406 
Orcutt-"ist.of Dorchester 309 
Gewall-Hist.of \7oburn 413 
Thonpson-Hist.of Greenfield"! 58 
Abbot-Hist. of Andover 113 
Green-Hist. of Springfield 349 
Lytian-Hist .of Easthannton 73 
Chaf Tin-Hi St of Ea&ton 384 
of Whately 132 
of Ashburnha.m 333 
Hadley 413 
of rorthampton 180 
Jimraon'tl^tr^'^-"^" 



Teraple-Hist. 
Stdjns Hist. 
Judd-?Iist. of 

Hist 
Dwelly and 



Danvers 



Hanson-Fist. of 
Ilann-Anr'als of De dharn 



146 

61 



I found from ny examination of the llassachusetts Town 
Histories, and Records, seven sources of support by which the 
district schools were maintained. The two most general methods 
of support were l8.nds and taxes. 



;iv.o': 



upport, A proviso usually included in fhe incorporation 1 

Act of many tovms was th-"^^' t a lot of so many acres in some suit- 

al.ile place, be laid out for '-.'be school. The aitji ohviously 

was the encouragement of education. "^he school lot w.s 

sometiTiies leased to a citizen wh < would cultivcte it and pay the 

annual rent. O'^er times the land was sold an-l the interetrt of 

the proceeds used for nchools, i"he interest from the school 

lands in v/hatever way obtained was one avenue by which the school 

got money to sup ort itself. 

Sometiraes the school lot was included wit}t the 

ministry lot. Arlington had a grant of •'a quarter of an acre of 

land" in 1637 which was a part of the ministry lot. Dorchester 

in 1639 ordered th-t there should be a rent of 20 lb. yearly 

forever imposed upon Thompson's Island to be used toward the 

maintenance of a school. In nineteen other tonns I found 

school lands one source of support. In the majority of the 

cases, no definite statement was made that the proceeds of these 

lands 77ent to the iistrict, but the assumption is th ■ t this was 

generally true. lUlford at its incorporation, was entitled 

to its proportion of Mendon School money, whicVi was derived from 

the sale of coa-.ori lat)d^5 and was divided among the districts 

2. 
according to t>^a valuation of taxable estates. 

Following is a list of towns whose schools lerived 

part of their surrport from taxes. 



1. ParV:er. The "^own of \rlington p. 250 

2. Fallou Hist, of Iiilford, 209. 



Town 



Reference 



H 



Ashburnhara 

Beverly 

Brookline 

Cambri dge 

Clinton 

Cohasaet 

Concord 

Chelsea 

Charlestown 

Ded}iara 

Eaton 

<^unenburg 

Marlboroup:h 

Manc>i ester 

Katick 

Newbury 

Northfield 

Plymouth 

Princeton 

Rehoboth 

Tisbury 

Water town 

Worcester 



Donations 



3te5"ns-Hist . of Ashburnham 344. 

Stone-Tfist. of Beverly 113 

Hist, of Prookline-Pub. by Prookline Press Co 65 

Paige-Hi St. of Ccirabridge 367 

Ford-Hist. of Clinton 87 

Eiplow-Hist. of Cohasset 198 

Shattuck-Hist. of C ncord 220 

Ghaniberlain-Hist . of Chelsea II, 337 

"Prothingharn-Hist. of Charle 3town-115-116 

Dedham Town Kec II 103, 135, IV 18, 32, 72,140 

Reading-Hist. of Katon 244 

Sunenburg Tovm Pec. (1719-1764) 86,113,135-6 

Hudson-Hist. of iV:arlborou(h 212 

Jfiamson-Hist. of Ivanchester 207 

Bacon-History of iJatick 128 

Currier-Fist, of I'ewbury 397 

Temple and 3heldon - Hist, of Korthfield 353 

Plynouth Town Pec. 11,1, 13, 33, 38, 50 

Hanaford - Hist, of Princeton 187 

■Hliss - Hist, of Rehoboth 160 

Tisbiiry Town Pec. 300, 318 

V/atertown Town Pec. IV 98 

Worcester Society of Antiquity 43, 49, 62, 

79, 86. 

Newton in 1702 received half an acre of land from Lir. 



Hyde for the benefit of a school in the southern part of 



1. 



town, and in 1726 four rods of lands for a schO'-l-house. At a 

meeting in Newbury in 1779 the unanimous thanks of the town were 

given to Samuel Lloody Usq. for his generous donation of 100 lb. 

2. 
at this time and 20 lb. some time past for the grammar school. 

3. 4. 

Instances of donations in otTier towns were Medford, Dedham, 

5. 6. 

Townsend and Marlborough. 

Two towns paid their school-me.sters in enission bills. 

3. 4. 

These were Lunenburg in 1749 and Cambridge in 1781. Korthfield 

5. 
got part of its sup ort from "Province bills of credif'in 1737. 

1. Smith-Hi St. of IJewton 240'i242. 
2.CurrieV-"ist. of I'ewbury 406 
3. Tosher, f'ist. of ' edford 285 
4.'^ann, Annals of Dedham 94-96 
5.!lay»telle, ^ist. of '''ownsend 229 



A part of these Province billa of credit loaned to individuals 

1. 
in 1728, was called in, and applied to pay for the ""chool-house. 

Plymouth made use of fines to help defray the expenses 

of her schools. In 1705 it was voted that "any swine that should 

run on the connons or at liberty irstead of being kept in 

inclusures belonging to their owners" should be sold and the 

proceeds should go, one-half toward the naintainence of the schools 

kept in town, and the other half to the person or persons who 

2. 
should find the same.. In 1802 the proceeds of the sale of 

herrings in the "Town Brook" were applied to the support of the 

schools. 

In 1834 the !Aassachusetts School Fund was established, 

created partly from the sale of public lands in 'faine, and 

Mass. partly frorn the paynent of military claims on the U. 3. for 
School ^ ^ . 

"Fund Massachusetts services. A great portion of the income of this 

fund has been annually distributed among the cities and towns 

of Massach\jsetts in the ratio of the number of their children 

from five to fifteen years of age. The author of iUlford 

says that she drew her proportion of the income from year to 

4. 
year since it was established. 

I found sixteen methods of ap.iortioning all forms of 

income up to the period of 1827 which marks the culmination of 

the district. Of these the two mo*^con;::on were : according to the 

number of c'^ ildren.and according: to the tax paid. 



1. Hudson, Hist, of L'arlborough 214. 

2. Plymouth '^own Rec. 333-4. 

3. Davis - Hist, of Plymouth 115. 

4. Ballou - Hist, of "ilford 210. 



Town 

Brookline 
Greenfield 

Lee 
Marshfield 

Tisbury 
Northfield 

Dedhain 

Groton 

Weston 

Rehoboth 

Whately 

Cambridge 
Gloucenter 

alden 

Medford 

Douglas 

lover 



I 



Kewton 

Lancaster 

Plymouth 

jiBraintree 

e dway 
'Pelham 
Soncord 



Concorc 
Wpturn 



I. 

Date 

1747 
1774 

1791 
1791 

1792 
1794 

1799 
1805 
1807 
1812 
1827 

1829 
1845 

1845 



According to the number of children in districts 

Reference. 



1720 
1724 
1735 

1740 

1769 
1770 
1774 

1776 



Lee 

Fitchburg 

Anesbur» 


1784 
1791 
1796 


ilford 


iSOO 


everly 


1825 



V.O. of children 
I* I* It 



40 lb. among children 4-14 
According to Ages 4-16 



5-16 



Hist. of Brookline 67 
Thompson Hist. of 

Greenfield. 
Rec.of Lee 253 
Richards Hist, of Liar. 

I. 154 
Tisbury Town Rec.286 
Temple &. Sheldon^ Korth- 

field 342 
:;ann Annals of £)edham39 



According to Eo.of children Putler T^ist.of Groton223 

" " " " " Weston Town Rec.48,56 

Children under 21 yrs. Eliss Hist. of Rehoboth]67 

According to ITo.of children Temple '^st. of Whately 

131 
" to no. of children 3-17jri:Paige -Cambridge 377. 
" " " " persons betweenRep. of I/iass.Ld.of Ed. 81 
4-21 
According to Wo. of scholars Ibid 82 

Sometimes according to no. Usher Hist, of Lied. 283 

of children. 
According to lo . of children Emerson Hist. of Douglas 

297. 
Sometimes according to no; Smith Hist. of Dover 209 
of children. 



1 1 , Acc ordi n p; to what they pay . 



\fha.t they pay of ochool Tax 
Ace. to vrhat they pay 
Ace. to v/hat they pay of 

school tax 
Ace. to what they pay of 

school tax 
Ace. to valuation of tax 
Ace. as school rate is divided 
Ace. to vrhat they pay 

.\cc. to what they pay 

Ace. to rateable estate 
Ace. to v/hat they pay 
Ace. to whRt they pay of 

School 
Ace. to what they pay of 

School Tax 
Ace. to no. of ratea.ble polls 



Smith-'S'ist.of Kewton 242 
Ivlarvin H.of Lancaster 189 
Plymouth Rec.II 311 

Braintree Town P.ec,235 

Jameson H<^ Lie dway 150 
Prescott<-Felham 226 
Shattuclc ■■ist.of 

Concord 221 
Sewoil 3. -''ist.of I/O burn 

413. 
Rec. of Lee 254 
li'itchburg T.Rec. II 66 



Ballou T'-ist.of Llilford 

209 
Beverly 113. 



Leekonk 

■.bington 



Ashburnham 
edford 
.ledford 
Dover 



Ace. to lo. of rateable polls Eliss-Rehoboth 194 

and estates 
Sometimes ace. to v/hat they 

pay 



Sometimes aco. to what they 

pay 
Ace. to ITo. of taxable polls 
Ace. to tpxes paid 



Fobart-Hist.of Abington 

26. 
Sterns Hist, of Ashb.346 

Usher-IIedford 283 

Smith -Hi St. of Dedliani 209 



III. Lvoney divided equally among districts. 



Ibington 


1775 


Equally 


ilford 


1800 


II 


eston 


1805 


It 


jancaster 


after 






1837 


ti 


fenham 




II 


forces ter 




It 


jincoln 


1845 


II 


lately 


some years 
later 


It 



robart-"ist. of Abington 26 
Ballou-Hist. of Llilford 209 
l7eston "^ eao^r -s Rec. 23 

Marvin - Fist, of Lancaster 440 
Allen - Hist, of v/enham 114 
Worcester, Soc. of Antiq. II 14 
Eighth Ann. Rep. of v.ass. Id. of Ed. 82 
Temple - Hist, of 'ATiately 131. 



'ittsfield 
indover 
!ambri dge 



uShburnham 

■)over 
lymoutii 



IV. According to IJumber of Families in Districts. 



1800 



1802 



Smith Hist, of Pittsfield 136. 
Abbot Hist, of Andover 113. 
Paige-Hi St. of Cambridge. 



V. According to wealth of Scholars. 



Sometimes 
It 



Stearns Hist, of Ashburnham 346 
Smith Hist, of Dover 209 
Plymouth Rec. II 310. 



elsea 



VI . According to lio . of wee;:3 set to each tova i . 
1780 Chamberlain Hist, of Chelsea II 334, 



over 



VII. After deducting th e_ monkey p ai d for the chi.l'-Iren 
who attended other schools the center district 
was to have 3/7 and the east and west districts 
4/7 of the money remaining. 
1818 Smith - Hist, of Dover 209. 



bington 



Greenfield 



VIII. One half equally and the other half 
according to the no. o7" scholars, 

Hobart i'ist. of Abington p. 226. 



IX, TwQ.thirda on the ncholarr,, other third on 
districts accordinej to what they pay; 
1794 Thoapson f'ist. of Greenfield I. 586. 



X, Qne«half on e a tale:,, one-half on acholara . 
reenfield 1800 "^Vonpson - ''^ist. of ''re^infield I 586. 



D«#i«in 



Greenfield 
lilford • 



f^atick 



XI, Kach district to receive 1/2 of \That t>Miy pay 
for use of school, and the otVier half upon 
number of scholaro. 

''ann. Annals of :3edhain 42. 



^•f I* Qne-half equally to districts other 1/2 pro 
rata to fscholars, 
1814 (*r.350 to be divided) Thompson ^^ist. Greenfield II 588 
1835 Ballou ^iat. of Mil ford 209. 

XI II . S40 to each district and the reaainder 

divided among districts a-ccordinc to no. of scholars, 
1 aeon - Hist, of -atick 129. 



XIV, $1000 voted for nchool purpooes 1/2 on the gcholar 
1/2 on the valuation, and "300 to be divided on 
scholar, and 1:200 to be left with the general 
cora-.ittee as they saw fit, 

reenfield 1851 Thompson - Hint, of Greenfield II 590. 

XV. $2000 to be divided on ^scliolar as 'retween 
villa, e and the outdistricta, and that the por- 
tion roinf to the out dit^tricts be divided 
equally anions them, 

'reenfield 1857 Thompson - Mist, of Greenfield II 590, 



nrceater 



XVI. VroTTi the whole tax in deducted the anount 

desi.ipied for the gran ar nchool; as an eiui valent 
for the Hchool beinp kept within the center, the 
other districts to receive *250 equally divided 
the residue of the whole aun is then proportioned 
according to the tninors. 
1836 Lincoln - lUst. of /orcenter 300. 



'^e aelectinen were the e-irlier-.t school cora littee. 

School During the earlier years of the town they performed various 
•■"omnittee 

duties that afterward were deleg ted to special committees. 

■ Some of tVte powers of t>ie selectmen were as follows: 

1 

1. To regulate schools. 

2 

2. To divide town into quarters. 

3 

3. To provide schools. 

4 

4. To assess districts for expense of school. 

5 

5. To apportion school money. 

6 

6. '"o regulate the squadrons. 

7. "ave charge of donation of money and see th. t 

7 

interest was annually expended. 

8 

8. To choose teachers. 

9. "^0 certificate school teachers. 

10. 9. 
10, To provide place to 'ceep schools in. 

10. 
11, To appoint a place for erectioi of school-house. 

11. 
12, To examine into state of school-house, 

13, To answer town's presentment for not having a 

12, 
school, 

13, 
14, To repair school-house. 

14. 
15, To visit schools with com ittee chosen in each ward, 

15. 
16, '''o superintend schools. 

l.Praintree Town T?ec. 202. 

2.Dwelly and Simmons Hist, of T^anover 120. 

3. Chase" - "^^ist. of Haverhill 457. 

4. Ibid 

5.Putler Hist, of ('roton 221. 

e.Ihld. 

7.^Tudson - 'list, of i'arl borough 214, 

hoate - Wist, of Essex 174, 
9. Lunenburg '^own Hec. (1719-1764) 112. 
lO.Choate - Hist, of Sssex 111. 
11. Weston Town ?ec. 119. 

12, Corey - ''Ust. of ^'alden. 

13, Vatertown Records I 127. 



^A^ 

§5^^" 



In the histories of these Massachusetts towns we 

(General read of ^^eneral school Comittees appointed for various duties, 

School 
omr.ittees .and consisting of anywhere from one to eleven or twelve 

members. li'oll owing is a list of the duties of ther.e school 

Committees. 

1 

1. To provide school -masters. 

2. To superintend t}ie "building and finishing of 
2 

school-houses. 

3 

3. To define the limits of school duties. 

4 

4. To determine t>ie places of a school. 

5. To draw plans and estimate the coat of a school 
5 

building. 

6 

6. To provide v/ood. 

7 

7. To settle a school-house in each quarter. 



8 



8. To plot a place in each district to build school. 

9. To cal to account the several school districts as 

9 
to the spending of money. 

10 
10. '^0 visit schools. 

11 
11. To manage schools, 

12. 
12, '''o apportion money. 

13. 
13, To affix tVie lines of squadrons. 



1, Paige - Hist, of Oambridf;e 375. 

2. 'ord - Hist, of Clinton 184. 

S.merson - Hist, of JoUfjlas 298, 

4.0^03 s - Hist, of ''elrose 186. 

5. Ibid 189. 

6. Jameson - lUst. of . edway 149. 

7,'f'emple - TTist. of Palmer. >« 

8,IVid 

9."arvin - Hist, of Lancaster 374. 

10. Ibid 373. 

ll.P.-rmenter - Wist, of Pelhara 226. 

12.''arvin - Hist, of Lancaster 353. 

13,^^cfenan - Tlist. of V'estf ord .311. 



The law of 18J27 obligated eac>i town to choose a 
fiehool committee whose dutie3 are discuaned in page 
of tve first part of tbis thesis. In 1829 Cambridge ap- 
pointed such a coca, ittee to report the amount of valiation, 
the ni.ir.iber of c' ildren let^^een the ares of 3-17 y ars, and 



1. 

the dxiration of the nchooln ii. each of tbe five districts. 

Sometiinea this coia-nittee vris called the "neneral School 

2 3 

Com it tee" and as ^uch was appointed in T'isTury ^.reenfield 

4 
and ^anover . Tip to 1827 there had been no com 1 ttees re- 

nuired by la^^ to be chosen by the towns, to take charf^e or 
o ye rr3i ??■'■->■• '•><' +^"' schools. *i-ierc '■'^t to-wris were districted 
the inhabitants of the district elected a com-dttee, who in 
many cases felt their duty performed w>ien they had employed 
a teacher and furnished fuel for ^'^'^ '"-hool. "^he examination 
of the teacher and of the schoolo whs usually assigned to the 
minister and selectmen, "^he act of 1827 created an in- 
spection com ittet 'in 1 ;' ve thon thp r rtovf^') nnrervi sj on of 

5 
the schools. :';one of thr. towns however, 'ad inopection com- 

nitteer. before the law of 1827. Cambridge had an inspection 

6 
com»r,ittee of five in 1744 in 1770 a committee of nine to in- 

7 
spect the school-master and regulate schools. Haverhill in 

17fi9 voted to choose a com ;ittee to inspect the school-master 



1. Paige - Tfist. of Cambridge 376-:>77. 

2. Tisbury '^ovm T>ec. 454. 

3. ''^ompson ^"^ist. of Greenfield I. 5' 9, 

4. r>weny and 3irinon Hist, of Hanover 121, 

5. Currier "ist. of Kewbury 414. 

6. Pr.ire ''ist. of Cn.-nl ri U-e :W5. 

7. nid. 



that was to consist of the "settled clergymen", the selectmen 

1 
and five others. The Com .ittee was to visit the schools 

2 
quarterly and make a report to the town. This was the first 

"school com ittee" and seemed to he so successful that the 

next year it was desired hy the inhabitants "to recommend such 

rules and regulations in the schools a-? they shall thir,k prober? 

Lancaster had an inspection committee in 1793 consisting of four 

4 
men. In 1791 Araeshury chose a com ittee of ei,'^>it to inspect 

5 
and regulate the schools. In 1799 an article was placed in 

the town warrant of '"edway to see if the town would choose a 

6 
com: 'ittee to inspect the schools, but it v?as dismissed. 

7 
However in 1804 a committee was C'iosen for this purpose. 

8 9 

Marlhorough had such a corar.ittee in 1803. Ahington in 1807, 

In 1814 'T'ownsend choose ten men, a com:nittee of Inspection to 
inspect the several schools in to^m. TViig committee was com- 
posed of one lawyer, three justices of peace, and the town's 

10. 
minister. 

The districtinp- committee held quite an important 

pT ace in the ^istory of the district. As the towns began to 
Istrict- 

ig Com- feel the advisibility of dividing into districts, they appointed 
Ittee. 

com^iittees to take this in charge. In 1784 a districting 

1. Chase - Hist, of Hnverhill 441. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Ibid. 

4. "arvin - Hist, of Lancaster 354. 

5. "lerrill - Hist, of Arfieahnry 306. 

6. Janeson - Hist, of yedway IbO. 

7. Ibid. 

8. Hudson - Hist, of ularlborouf^h 217-218. 

9. T^obart - ^'ist. of Abinrton p. 27. 
lO.Sawtelle - Hist, of Milford 189-190. 



3 



Ib Eaaton in 1768 ench quarter of the taurn raa to draw ita 

proportion of school Money to "be done by a peraor chosen in 

1 
each of the four quarters of town. This was the beginning 

of the prudential con 11: tee yl n. In 1811 after tne town had 

been di/ided into diatricta one nan was choaen from each 

2 
district. irinceton showa pretty clearly the beginning 

of the prudential corariittee. In 1771 the town Wi^a divided 

into 3quadroK3, and it waa yoted th :t each a uiadroii hare 

dent inl liberty to build their ornm school-hounea. Again th it same 
OOT ittee 

yerr i' s- voted that a conLsittee of t.To be ch jsen for each, 

aquadron to superintend the building of the school houae in 

4 
thT-t aquadron. Here just as in the evolution of the district, 

the prudential cor'irrd tt.ee c^tne into existence before the law 
wr;8 passed rejuirinf- it., »o that the la>:» of 1827 wv.« merely 
a requirement of n practice that had been os>erf;i.ng for thirty 
to fifty ye?;r9. "^^ <= prudenti;il affa-ira of the district, in- 
cluding the employment of the teac'^^'er^ were conducted by the 

5 
selectmen in Ashburnham in 1778, At thia tioe the town 

6 
ch r.e a '>riidentij'-l n,-;-! ittee f-'»' each -li^tr-iot. vitchburg liad 

a prudential comdttee in 1791 o.f ievon. aexi ao there rauat have 

7 
been seven districts. tn 1792 it had six men aa a prudential 

8 
com'.;! t tee. ard in lo94 never; .-..a-.-in to see "their nroTjortion of 



1. Chaff in - Hist, of Maaton 3B3, 

2. Ibid 3R4. 

3. "anaford '-iHtorv jf irinceton 180. 

4. Ibid 

5. " 'S- ^Tiatory of ' 347, 
f>, as- *U3t. of ' 47. 

7. vitchburg '"own T^ec, II 59 

8, Ibid BB-89. 



1 

money schooled out" The first prudential comrdttee in 

¥/o"burn W3,s in 1794 when a comraittee of niae one for each 

district v/as appointed to view the school-houses and estimate 

2 
the expense of repairing them. Each member of the committee 

was to superintend the erection or repair of the school houses 

in his own district to see thatthe work was completed and 

that a deed to the town of the l8,nd on which each school house 

3 
stood should he obtained. Clinton chose a orudential com- 

4 
mittee from 1800 on. From 1823 Greenfield chose a prudential 

5 6 7 8 

committee - Arlington - Tisbury and Hanover did not have 

prudential committees until 1827. 

Trustees were chosen in Lrookline and Pelham. In 

Brookline they were elected in 1723, and a^jparently were an 

9. 
early form of the prudential com:.iittee. Pelham in 1797 voted 

10.. 
to choose a trustee in each quarter of the town. The duty of 

each trustee was to receive all or any part of the tax and pay 

11. 
out what was necessary for labor and material for school-house. 

Duxbury appointed three agents in 1737 to choose a school-ma.ster 

12 13 

for the town and again in 17 4''' for the same purpose. That 

the agents were svnonomous with the districting comr;uttee is shown 

14. 
by Lee choosing five men as agents to district the town in 1784. 



1. ?itchburg Town Rec. II 59. 

2. Sewell -'Hist, of V/oburn 415. 

3. Ibid. 

4. Ford - Fist, of Clinton 187, 

5. T^'ompson - Greenfield 589. 

6. Parlcer - Arlington 254. 

7. Tisbury Town Rec. 454. 

8. Dwelly and Simmons, Hist, of Hanover p. 121. 

9. Dedham Hist. Register 1-2 87. 

10. Parmenter Hist, of Pelham 228. 

11. Ibid. 

12. Duxbury Town Pec. 253. 

13. Ibid 277 

14. Hist, of Lee 252. 



Bibliography 
of Works Congulted, 



I Primary Sources 

1, Acta and T^esolvea 

2, Town T^ecords, 

II. Secondary Sources 
1, Town ^^istoriea 

III. Miscellaneous. 



Bibliography. 
Primary 5ource». 
I* Acts and Resolves. 

1. Act 3 ;md T^esolves of the I'rovince of /aasftchusetts 

I^ay. Vol XI, 1726-173:5. 

2. Pecords of the Colony of Uasa. i^y in Kew En<7land. 

Vol. II, 164'>-1P.49. r.dited by li. iv^rtleff. Poaton 1853. 

3. The Charters and General Laws of the Colony and Province 
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4. Acts and .{eaolTen of ' ;-i.33. 1738-1799. Published by 
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5. Laws of trie i^ooiuonweulth of ass, .ay 1815 to "'eb, 
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6. Law3 of the Connor. wealth of ?.'aaH. .Jay 1835 - -'ar. 
182b. ol. X. r.03toK 1828. 

7. Acts and Laws of the Comonwe tilth of Fass. 1788-1789. 
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II. Town 7-;e cords, 

1, tecorda of the Town of "nr-lntree. 

1640 to 1793. '.iiridolr-h, ass. 1886. 

2, Town Records of '"hidley, !iass. 

17:!:?-1754. PaTytucVret, ^. I. 1893. 

3, Copy of ti:e uld Heoor Jn of the Town cjf Juxbury, ass. 

164?-1770. flyrcouth, 1893. 



L. 



4. The Old Records of the Town of ^itchburf% 

Vol. II, 1789-1796. fitchhuTR, 1899. 

Vol. IV, 1796-1809. ntchburfT, 1901. 

5. •■ecords of the Town of Lee, from its Incorporation to 

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6. The larly Records of the Town of Lunenturg. 

1719-1764. Pitchhurg, 1896. 

The Proprietor/3 Kecorda of the To^ of Lunenburg, 
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7. 'Records of t>ie f'o'jyin of Hlynouth. 

Vol. T, 1636-1705. Plyaouth, 1889. 

Vol. II. 17< 5-1743. Plyraouth, 1892. 

8. Harly Pecorda of the ^ovn of Hovrley. 

1639-1672. Powley, 1094. 

9. ^ecor'la of f.he Town of Tigbury. 

166^-1864. "Poston, 1903, 

10. ''atertown ^^ecordn. CorrjTjrisinf- the f?ir~t and lecond 

BoolcB of the "otvr: yrocjpeUn^a. 
1634-1742. /atertown 1894. 

11. Kecorda of the Town of /enton. 

1604-18:;^6. Poaton, 1894. 



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1. Hol)art, Hist, of Abington, I^rom its First Settlement. 

Boston 1866. 
1/ 

2. .. erril, Hist, of AmesToury and r.erriraac. 

1637-1880. Haverhill, 1860. 

•^3. Atbot, Hist, of Andover, From its Settlement to 1829. 

Andover, 1829. 
♦'4. Eailey, ^^ist. of Andover. 

Boston, 1880. 
5. Parker, the Town of Arlington, Past and Present. 
1637-1907. Arlington, 1907. 

•^6. Stearns, ^"ist. of Ashhurnham. 

17 34-1886. Ashburnhara, 1887. 

7. Stone, Hist, of Beverly. 

1630-1842. Boston, 1843. 

8. Earner, i^m Historical Vemoir of Billerica. Prom its 

Pirst Settlement to 1816. .toherst, 1..H. 1816. 

9. Hazen, Hist, of Billerica. Boston, 1883. 
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1630-1880. Vol. II. Boston 1881. 
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1630-1906. Published by the Brookline Press 

Company. Brookline 1906. 

Jl3.Pai^;e, '''ist. of Cambridge. 

1630-1877, Boston, Hew York, Cambridge, 1877. 
14. Chamberlain, A 'Docunentary i^ist. of Chelsea. Vol. II. 

1624-1824. Boston, 1908. 



I 



15. Frothingham, Hist, of Charlestown. 

Boston, 1845. 

16. 7ord, Hist, of the Origin of the Tovm of Clinton. 

1653-1865. Clinton, 1896. 

^ 17. Bigelow, A llarrative History of the town of Gohasset. 

Boston, 1898. 
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Colonial Period. Concord, 1904. 
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20. Hanson, The Hist, of the Tovm of Danvers, Fron Its 

Earliest Settlenient to 1848. Danver^ 1848. 

21. Mann, Historical Annals of DedJiam. From its Settlenent 

in 1655 to 1847. Dedham, 1847. 
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Boston, 1877. 
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J 29. Chaff in, '^^ist. of Easton. 

1634-1868. Essex, 1868. 



30. Tenner, Hist, of i^all River. ?all River 1911. 

31. Pringle, The Hist, of Gloucester, 

1623-1892. Gloucester, 1892. 

32. Pierce, Fif^t. of Grafton. From its Early Settlement 
fcy the Indians in 1647 to the Present Time, 1879. 

V/orcester, 1879. 
*'33. Thompson, Fist, of Greenfield, Vol. I. 

1682-1900. Greenfield, Hass. 1904. 

''34. Putler, The Fist, of Groton, Pepoerel and Shirley. 

Eoston, 1848. 
35. Judi, Fist, of ^^adley. Springfield, 1905. 
^36. iXvellejr and Simmons, Hist, of Hanover. 

1727-1903. Fanover 1910. 

^37. Chase, Fist, of Haver^ull, 

1640-1S80. Haverhill, 1861. 

^'SS. Ivlarvin, Hist, of Lancaster. 

1643-1579. Lancaster, 1879. 

39. Washburn, "istorica,l Sketch of the Tovrn of Leicester, 

during the l^'irst Century from its Settlement. 

Poston, 1860. 

40. ?/ilder. Hist, of Leominster. 

1701-1650. Fitchburg, 1853. 

41. Fudson, Hist, of Lexington, Hrom its Settlement to 1868. 
. Eoston, 1868. 

42. Corey, Hist, of Ilalden. 

1633-1785. Halden, 1399. 

N^43. Larson, ^"ist. of the '^own of 'Manchester, 

1645-1895. Manchester, 1895. 

44. Hudson, Fist, of the "^own of Marlborough, 



45. Richards, ^'ist . of Marshf ield. Vol. I. 

Plymouth 1901. 
'^e. Tameson, ^Ust of Iledwfiy. 

1713-18S5. r.edway 1886. 

'^47. Eallou, Hist, of Llilford, Pron Its Pirst Settlement 

to 1581. ?;oston 1382. 

^^ 48. Goss, The Hist, of Melrose. Ilelrose 1902. 
«/48. Teele, The Hist, of Hilton. 

1640-1887. Loston 1884. 

49. Copeland, A Hist, of the "^own of Llurrayfield. 

1760-1783. Springfield 1892. 

50. ^acon, ""he Hist, of Natick. 

1651-1856. Boston 1856. 

Vol. (""urrier, The Hist, of ITewhury. 

1635-1902. Boston 1902. 

52. Smith, ^'ist. of I-jewhuryport . l^ewljuryport 1854. 
1/53. Smith, Hist, of Kewton. 

1630-1880. Boston 18C0. 

54. Jackson, ''ist. of the Early settlement of i^ewton. 
1639-1800. Boston 1854. 

*^ 55. Kingman Hist, of i'orth Bridgewater. From its First 
Settlement to the Present '^ir^e. Boston 1866. 

56. Temple and Sheldon, History of Korthfield. 

Alloany 1875. 

57. Temple, Hist, of t'e Town of Palmer. 

1716-1889. Palmer, 1889. 

•^58. Parmenter. History of Pelham. 

1738-1898. Amh.erst 1898. 



59. Dyer, A '»i8t. of the -^own of Plairificld, -iYom its 
netllenenl to 1891, Korthaiapton 1891. 

6C. :TavlB, '^e Fiat, of Plymouth. 
^61, Hanaford, Vist, of ITinceton. 

17 39-18 f>2. "orcester 1652. 

52, Plies, ""he "iat. of "ehol;ot>>, 'onpri-^Jlnf th« 
^iatory of tbe Present fowns, Pehoboth, 
>eekonk an'i ^'^^tuckPt, lonton 1C56, 

63. ")r lice, "^he Town of Roxhiiry, Poxbury 1878. 
«/64. Heed, A "ist. of Jutland, l^rom its arliest 3ettl«. 
ment, "orioeater 1836, 

65, uean. Hist, of ii^uate, i^'ron itts >'irat octtleEient 

to 1831. lioston 1831. 

66. Oreen, pringfield, ^Ust. of -nvvn and City. 

1576-ir'';r). ::prinKfield 1888. 

*/67, jawtelle, TTiat, of the ^orni of "^ownaend, 

1676-1878. 'itcbluTfT 1878. 

68. A.llen, ■''he "isto-^y of "enhara. 

1633-1360. 'oaton, 1860. 

69. '^odfrnan, ^Unt. of the '^o^ti nf -fi^tford. 

l659-lP-r3. Lowell, If.'J^S. 

v'70. -^enple, Viat. of the "-own of '.Imtely. 

1660-1871. Po3ton 1872. 

V71. Lincoln, "i^t. of '/orcester. ->on its r!arlie3t 
Jettlement to 1836. Worcester 1837. 

72. Tall, ■^fir-iiniacencea of or center, ''roc its earliest 
I'tiriod. .vorc«3ter 187 7. 

^73. 3ewall. The TUat. of oburn. 

1640-1860. Boston 1868. 



Siseellaneous ''toircea. 

1. -n-io Uary of h:benezer Parkraan of "'*^^?boroueVi » '''sa. 

1737 » 1778. 1779, 1780. '^eaUorouffh, 1899. 

2. The ^ihiua 'historical Register. 

Vol. I ani TT. 'e(1>^n'1, 1890. 

Vol, III JiJid IV. JSUhOi.-: 1892. 

3. Kiglith Annual Report of the ^oard of "iJCHtion of l!a«». 

hy i^Torace '^Jirm, 

4. Weymouth ^-istorical society of t'ae '^owii of Tftyriouth. 

1623-1884. •^ejraout^, 1865. 

5. omeater 'ociety of Antiquity Collections. 

vol. XI Book I, 1722-1739 ^ er 1079. 

TcoV. T7,174C-17':-5 er 1C8G. 

V^ol.TII -irt 1,1667-1! ;'3 --r IR^l. 

Part TI. 1713-1700 . er 18R1. 



Chap. IT. An Historical ^tudy 
concerning 
Tha Evolution of the Diatrict ?'chool !^ystera 
In New HaMipshire 
conBlating of Two Parts: 

Part I- The Educational Legislation of New Hampshire 

Part TI- The Evolution of the District in New Hampshire 



Chapter II- An Hiatorical Ptudy of the Evolution 

of the 
District Pohool System in New Hampshire 



part I. History of the Educational Legislation of New Harapahire 
to 1827. 

1. From 1623- 1680 

a. Law of 1647 

2. From 1680-1719 

a. Law of 1692 

b. Law of 1693 

c. Law of 1714 

d. Law of 1721 . 

e. Law of 1719 

3. From 17 89-1827 

a. Law of 1789 

b. Law of 1805 

c. Law of 1808 

d. Law of 1827 
II. Evolution of the district. 

1. School held in one place in the town. 

a. Exeter 

b. "^wanzey 
o. Hollig 

d. New Ipswich 

e. Candia 

f. Rindge 

g. Lyndeborough 
h. Fitzwilliam 



2. The Moving ?!chool 

A breaking up of the center Bchool and apportioning 
it to the parts that need it. 

a. Ne-vfields 

b. Exeter 

c. Hye 

d. Concord 

e. Rollia 

f. Arahergt 

g. Manohegter 
h. Canterbury 
ii Londonderry 
j. Rindge 

3. Divided gchool 

^here the different parte maintain a school 
of their own. 

a. Rye 

b. Exeter 

c. Canterbury 

d. Hollie 

e. Lynde borough 

4. TTarly forms of the district growing out of 
divided gchool. 

a. Parts 

(1) Exeter 
(3) Hollis 

b. Quarters 

(1) New Ipswich 
(^) "^ianborton 

c. Diocese 

(1) Peterborough 

d. Fort 

(1) Canterbury 

e. Classes 

(1) Canterbury 



f. ''luadrons 

(1) Amherst 
(3) Fitzwilliam 

g. 'Society 

(1) Hoi lis 

5. 'method of raising money for schools. 

a. Taxes 

b. School Lands 

c. Literary Fund 

d. Notes and mortgages on Real Estate 

e. Produce 

6. Methods of Apportioning Funds 

a. According to proportion of the taxes which 
each district paid in, 

b. According to number of scholars in district, 

c. According to wealth of scholars, 

d. Equally 

7. CO'-=rr.i ttee 

a. {Selectmen 

b. ''chool Coirraittee 

c. '^uperlnteniing Com ittee 

d. Prudential Committee 



I. HlBtory of the Educational Legislation of New Hampshire 

from its Settlement to 1327, 

In tracing the history of educational le si elation In New 
Hampshire, one mufjt consider certain laws of Massachusetts 
since New Hampshire was from 1623 to 1600 united with the 
NJassachufjetts Bay Colony. From 1623 to 1G41, when the union 
was formed, there is no evidence of any lejislation in regard to 
schools. However, Massachusetts must have extended her influ- 
ence to the latter colony since the four towns, t)over, TTxeter, 
Portsmouth and Hampton, were subject to Massachusetts in thought 
and spirit during this period. 

In 1635 the inhabitants of Boston agreed that "Our brother 

Philemon Porraont shall be entraated to become school-master foi- 

■t 

the teachin'^ and nurturing children with us.""^ The next year 

they raised a sura toward the maintanance of a free aoh'-ol-master, 
Mr. Daniel Maud.^ In 1638, Porraont moved to i^xeter, the New 
Hampshire town, 5 and in 1642 Maud was called from Boston to b== 
minister of Dover. ^ '^'ince from 1641 to 1680, the two states 
had the same government, it is reasonable to suipose that these 
two men, who had b^en sc'ool teachers in their former homes, 
should not neglect to open schools, or at least lend their Influ- 
ences, toward the fosterin; of education in their new places 
of abode. 

1. Belkanp, History of New Hampshire, Vol. I, Ch. I & II 

2. Ibid. Vol. I, Ch. I A II 

3. findsor. The Memorial History of Boston, Vol. TV, 237 

4. Ibid. 

5. New Hampshire Historical Collections, Vol. IV, 8 

6. Ibid. 



In 1647 ivlaasachusetts enacted her first great law to estab- 
lish town schools. It ordered towns of fifty house-holders to 
set up an elementary school and towns of one hundred house- 
holders to set up a grammar school. This was the first actual 
law making elementary education compulsory. This law extended, 
of course, to the four New Hampshire towns mentioned before, 
which were subject to Massachusetts laws, as far as they had 
the required number of families. In 1680 the number of houee- 
holders in Portsmouth was 71, in Dover, 61,^ in Hampton, 57,"^ 
and in Exeter, 20.^ Therefore a school must have been kept 
In three of these towns. 

In 1679 New Hampshire became a sexarate rro^'inoe^ so for 

the next period of legislation we may consider the time from 

1680 until 1719.® The first law found on the subject of schools 

is in 1693, which was included in "An «ct Concerning the 

Prudential Affairs of the Towns of Palde Province,"''' Among 

other things which the towns voted to provide themselves with, 

as powder, constables, overseers for the poor, etc., was to 

provide themselves with a "f^ohoole master not vistious in 

conversation."^ The nekt year, 1693, the law is still more to 

the point. In an act for maintenance and supply of Ministry 

and Schools within the province, they voted that the selectmen 

were to raise money, by an equal rate on the asses -iraent of the 

inhabitants, for building and repairing of sohoolhouses,^ Every 

town, except Dover, was to provide a schoolmaster for the supply 

of the town, on the penalty of ten pounds per year for neglect, 

1. New Harar)Shire Hi^^torical CoUections, Vol. IV, 10 

T;. Ibid. 

3. Ibid, 

4. Ibid. 

5. Belknap, History of New Hampshire, Vol. I, 88 

6. Ibid. 385 

7. Batchellor, Laws of New HHrnr^shire, Vol. I, 5P.Q-5P,7 

8. Ibid. 



one half of thig Burn to ?,o to "their raaje.qties" and the other 
half to the poor of the town.-^ lover wae excepted, probably 
because it suffered eepecially during the war with the French 
and Indiana." 

However, no excei-tion was made for Dover, in a similar 
law enacted in 1714, ^J'very town in the province was required 
to provide a schoolraaeter. 

The next imcortant educati nal legislation wae in 1719, 
This required every town of fifty householders, or over, to 
provide itself with a schoolmaster, to teach children and youth 
to read and .vritej^ and in every town of one hundred house- 
holders, there should be kept a granwar school "by 30rae diecreit 

g 

person, of good conversation, well instructed in the tonffuee. 

The '^'electmen were to hire the schoolrnaeter to raise raoney by 
rite from the inhabitants to pay his salary,''' If the towns 
neglected to do this, there n-as appenalty of frvonty pounds, to 
be paid toward the su' port of schools in the Province where 
there was need for It. 8 In 1721, it goes still further and 
says that not only shall towns of 100 families have Graminar 
Schools, but also each parish of 100 families shall be provided 
with a Grammar i'chool. In this law of 1731 there is the first 
evidence of the district in that another unit than the town le 
re^iuired to be provided with a Grammar !?chool,' 

1. Batchellor, Laws of New H.amp3hire,Vol. I, 560-561 

2. Ne"ir Hampshire Historical Collections, Vol. IV, 13 

3. Batchellor, Laws of New Hampshire, Vol. II, 144 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid. 336-337 

6. Ibid. 

7. Ibid. 

8. Ibid. 



Moreover, if any town or parish was destitute of a Gramriar 
School for one month, the Selectmen were to forfeit and r^y 
out of their own estates the sum of twenty pounds, to be applirti 
toward defraying the expenses of the Province,^ 

The third period of eduoational legislation is that from 
1783 to 1837 which marks the culmination of the evolution of 
the district. 

In 1789 an Act was passed for the better regulation of 
schools within the Pitate of New Hampshire, and repealing the 
laws in force before that tirne.^ These were the important 
enactments. 

a. The '=!elect'Tien of the several towns and parishes were to 
assess annually the inhabitants of the several towns accord- 
ing to the poll^ and ratable estate, five pounds for every 
twenty shillings of their proportion of public taxes. 

b. The sums were to be collected and used for keeping an ^^lemen- 
tary Oraramar "chool to teach reading, writing and arithmetic. 

c. If th-^ town were a shire or half shire town, the school kept 
was a rjram'tar School for teaching Latin and Greek languages 
as well as other subjects. 

d. Th^ school-teacher was not qualified to teach unless he could 
produce a certificate from some reputable school-master and 
learned minister or r.reoeptor of gome college. 

e. If the Selectmen forgot to aspens the inhabitants, they weee 
to forfeit and pay the sum they failed to raise and this sum 

was to be used for keeping school. 
In this law of 1789 we find two new elements entering in, name- 
ly, the rate of tax to be asseeeed, and the certification of the 
school-teacher. 

1. Batchellor, Laws of New Hampshire, Vol. II, 336-337 

2. Ibid. 376 



The only suggestion that we have had go far conoerning the 
divisions of the town, is the term "parish" which is first 
noticed in the law of 1721. ^ Here thei;breaking up of the town 
19 designated as "parish," indicating that the towns are spread- 
ing and needing schools in different places. This period of 
ch^ng^a, of enlarging from the one school at the center, and 
gradually establishing schools in different arts of the town, 
is more clearly developed in the town lawe than the ntate. 
The state law of 1805 is simple legal recognition of a practice 
that h^ad been going on for fifty years. During the latter part 
of the "Seventeenth Century anf throughout the T=^i gh te =;n th , the 
towns of New Hampshire had b^en setting up schools in different 
part^ of the respective towns, designating these parts ty various 
names, as noted in th*? outline and in the discussion in Part II 
which follows, '^o in 13C5 the state empowered (Pec. l!^ the towns 
to divide into school districts, define their linite and alter 
them any time they thought convenient. 2 

Th'i towns were to make a record of such division and alter- 
ation in the clerk's house within three months aft'?r such 
division and alrerations have taken place, 3 No person could 
send to, oi* receive iny benefit from, any ^oh'^cl in th» district 
where he was not a resident without the consent of such district,* 

?ec. Z, The inhabitants of the several school districts 
were empowered to raise money for erecting, repairing or pur- 
chasing a schoolhouse in their district and the necessary 

1. Bat,b33ellor, Laws of New Hampshire, Vol. II, 336-337 
a., Ibid. Laws of New H-r,- f3h-! re, ^ubl. Icl5- 366 

^. Ibid. 
4. Ibid. 



utenaila for the ?3ame; they could determine the place of the 
achoolhouae, chooae a committee to au^erintend the building 
and rej airing of the achoolhouae, and choose a clerk who must 
make a record of all the votes passed at the meeting of the 
district, ^ 

ec. 3, Every person wae taxed in the district in which 
hellived for all the estate and real estate which he held in 
the town of the district where he lived. The Selectmen were 
empowered to direct one of the Selectmen of the town where 
such district belonged to levy emd collect the ^ax, ^ 

^ec. 4. The Treasurer and Selectmen of any town should 
have authority to enforce the collection amd payment so 
assessed and fortified.^ 

'^ec. 5. The Releotmen were empowered to warn the 
district meetings, 

Sec. 5 The '^^electioen were to determine the place for the 
schoolhouge of the inhabitants of any district could agree 
where to erect it, 

Thif? law of 1805 marked the culmination of the evolution 
of the district, and is for ue the moat important act of 
legislation summed up in Part I of the discussion. Here the 
towns were empowered to divide into school districts and 
define their limits. 

1. Laws of the ^'tate of New Hsmpshire, Publ. 1815, 366 

2. Ibid. 

3. Ibid, 367 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid. 367-368 



I 



Th3 other two laws of the period, thoea of 1803 and 1827, 
mark still further the growing power of the district. In 1808 
an Act wae paaeed, the fir>3t Bection of which gave the Pelect- 
men power to aer^ega the inhabitants of the towns annually, 
according to polls and ratable estate, together with the 
improved and unimproved lands and buildings to the sura of 
t70.00 for every one dollar of their proportion of the public 
taxes, and these sums, when collected, were to be used for 
the support of an ICnglish school or schools, for the teaching 
of reading, writing, Kngliah grammar, geography and such other 
branches of education ae might be necessary in an 'Rnglish school,^ 

*^ec. 3 of thla law stated that no person was qualified to 
teach unless he or she could procure a certificate from some 
able and reputable T?!nglish grammar schoolmaster and learned 
minister of the Gospel, or preceptor of an academy, or president, 
preceptor or tutor of soHie college, that he or she was well 
qualified to teach these subjects,^ There was also to be a 
certificate from the Selectmen or minister of the town or parish 
to which he or she belonged that he or she sustained a good 
moral character."^ 

In Section 3, we find the first mention of a visiting 
or inspection committee: 

Each town was to appoint three or more suitable persona 

whose duty it should be to visit and inspect the schools 

annually, and if the town failed to appoint such persons, the 

Selectmen were to do the visitin?, and inspecting.* 

1. Laws of the "tate of New Hampshire, 368 

3. Ibli. 

3, Ibid. 

4. Ibid. 369 



^80. 4, If the "^electTien neglected to raise the money men- 
tioned in '^ec. 1, they were to forfeit and pay the full sum 
which they had been found delinquent in aa??e 'sing, collecting 
and appropriating.^ The niun when recovered was to be used 
for keeping sohoole where the delinquency occurred,' The moat 
important enactment in regard to the diatrict ayatems was 
"The diatricta are empowered to purchase and hold in fee aimple, 
landa and buildings. "3 Further they were empowered to raise 
money for purchasing land.'^ Thus we see that from the natural 
diviaiona made for convenience in schools, the diatrict had 
become a, legal unit, empowered not only to define its limit 
and keep its own school, but to purchase land and bullUngs 
and even to raiae money. 

The first section of the law of 1037 differed only slightly 
from that of the law of 1808, in that the sum to be computed 
on the polls and ratable estates of the inhabitants was ?90.00 
for every i^l.OO of their proportion for public taxes, "^ instead 
of $70.00 in the earlier law,^ 

^ec. 3. Thii sum was to be apportioned by the ^'electmen 

to the various school districts accoriing to the valuation 

7 
of that year. 

^er3 by the law of 18Cd there was appointed a visiting 

and inspection committee, these two duties were now combined 

in the form of a Superintending Committee, to be appointed by 

the 'Selectmen, annually, to comprise not le^,s thnn three, nor 

more than five persons whose duties were to be: 

1. La'Wa of New Hampshire, Publ. 1815, 369 

2. Ibid. 

3. Ibid. 369-370 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid. Vol. Ill, publ. 1827, 213 

6. Lavs of Ne-v Ha-npshire, publ. 1815, 368 

7. Ibid. 



1. To examine sohoolraaetera and gchoolralstresBes. ^ 
3. To visit and inspect all schools in respective towns at 
least twice a year: to inquire into the regulations and 
discipline thereof, the proficiency of the schools, and 
to use their influence and best endeavors that the youths 
in the several districts shall attend schools, ^ 

3. The committee shall have power to dismisf? the schoolmaster 
or mistress who shall be found Incapable, notwithstanding 
he or she may have procured the necessary certificates, ^ 

4. The coiiiraittee is required and empowered on application 

made by any schoolmaster or schoolmistress in the respective 
towns, or the inhabitants, to order the expulsion of any 
scholar from any school who will not submit to reasonable 
rules, ^ 

5. To direct and determine the claqg books, ^ 

The coramltte<? shall never order books favoring any 
religious sect,^ 
G, To present written reports to the to/rns, annually, stating: 

a. Th=i number of months the public schools have b°en 
kept in each district, 

b. ■'Tiat proportion of school male and 'vhat fewale. 

c. Progress raal? in various branches of learning, 

d. NU'fiber of children bst'^r^en four and fourteen yeari of 
age in each ??chool district that have not attended 
school, 

e. Number of persons, ifany, in each district, between 

fourteen and twenty-one who cannot read or write," 

1. Laws of New Hampshire, Vol. TTI, 313-;n4 

3, Ibid. 4. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 

3. Ibid. 5. Ibid, 7. Ibid, 315 



Be3id«? the ^uperint ^ndin? Committee, there must be now a 
Prudential Committee appointed In each town, as deeoribed in 
Section 5, of the law of 1337: 

«______a District or Prudential Committee appoint- 
ed in each town, one person for each district, who shall be a 
resident in the dietrict for which he ghall be chosen, and he 
shall be called the Prudential Committee thereof,^ whose 
duties are: 

a. Select and contract with the teacher for his district, 

b. To provide board for teachers. 

c. To provide necessary fuel for school. 

d. On commencement of school to give necessary information 

3 

and assistance to the Superintending Cora ittee of townT 

^ec. 8 of Law of 1B27. Thi^ section deals with the quali- 
fications of schoolmasters and adds these re'iuireraents. which 
had not been made heretofore; 
"1. He must be a citizen of the United states. 4 

2, He must have a certificate nojfc only from the Selectmen 

but also from the Superintending Committee as to his moral 
charadter, qualifications to teach^ ______ -(the 

saine branches as were found in Section 1 of the Law of 
1808) "6 



1. Laws of New Hampahire, Vol. Ill, 215 

2. Ibid. 

3. Ibid. 

4. Ibid. 216 

5. Ibid. 

6. Ibid. 



Part II 
Evolution of the Distrlot ?'chool ''yatera in New Hampshire 

The law of 1647 wa^i the first law passed in Massachusetts 
making education oompuleory in that ^ta-^e and in New Hninpahire, 
which was under Massachusetts law at that time. At least a 
school was corapulsory in a tov/n of fifty householders.^ By 
the law of 1693, the Selectmen were obliged to hire a sohool- 
raaster.^ Almost identical with the law of 1647 was that of 
1719, which was enacted in New Hampshire after that state 
(New Hampshire) had separated from Maqgqichusetts.^ If there 
were any free elementary schools in New Hampshire before that 
period, they were probably due to the influence of Boston.-^ 

In accordance with these laws, as soon after a town was 
organized, measures were taken to provide for the education 
of the young. Owing to the few pupils to b'? instructed in 
moat caees, and to the scarcity of funds in others, there was 
>^Q at first only one echool kept in a town. As early as 166D 

IJ^i there was a school in TTxeter.S in 1740 <5wanzey hired a "school 

dame to instruct the children in reading."'!' The first refer- 
ence to hiring a schoolmaster in Hollls is in 1750: "to teach 
the children to r^ad and write, "^ since that year there were 
89 narae^ on the tax list.® Tli^ firnt nchool we hear of in New 
Ipswich is in 1762, and thi3 year a school was kept for three 

1. The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, 136-137 

2. Ibid. 

3. Batchellor, Laws of New Hampshire, Vol. I, 560-561 

4. Ibid. Vol.11, 336-337 

5. Memorial History of Boston, Vol. IV, 237 

6. Bell, History of 'rxeter, 385 

7. Re-id, Hi^itory of "wanzey, 134 

8. Worcester, History of Hollis, 103 

9. Ibid. 



lool 



The 

ioving 
-chcol 



monthg. Among the firat entries? in the ^electtnen'a accounts 
of Candia in 1764, is an item for paying De. Mooere forty 
pounds for k^^epincr gchool.^ Plndge, in 1771, paid to Nathaniel 
Ruseel 5 lb. 5 eh. for ke^^ping school.'^ Lyndeborou^h voted 
to have a school in 1773,^ and we find the vote repeated each 
year until 1778. "^ In 1773, the town of Fitzwilliam had a 
population of 314,6 and in 1774 m appropriation of 7 pounds 
waB made "for the use of a echool."''' Thi^ same exprension ia 
ueed aucce-^Uvely for the years 1775, 1776 and 1777,^ telling 
us that without doubt the echool wae maintained on only one 
place in the town, or that there was only one school. 

*9 the tovna spread out and the inhabitants increased, 
some had to 50 too gr^at a di<?tance to the school in the center. 
One school was not sufficient for all the inhabitants. Here, 
as in Massachusetts, we see the first move toward the district 
formation- namely, a breaking up of the center school, and 
apportioning it to the parts that needed it. However, scarcity 
of funds in these villages that were ^trug idling to develop and 
maintain a foothold would not permit them to establish schools 
independently in each part of the town where a school was need- 
ed, "^o they had recourse to a plan that met their ne"da for 
the time being, Thia was to employ one school teacher, but 
instead of allowing hlrr. to teach the term in one jilace, he was 
to teach a certain part of the time in one part of the town, then 
;':o to another part and give the inhabitants there the benefit 

1. Xldder ^ 'Uould, History of New Ipswich, 194 

3. Sioore, History of Candia, 131 

'•>. '='tearn. History of '^75 

4. Donovan ci ''oodward, History of Lyndeborough, 354 

5. Ibid. 

6. Norton, History of Fitaeilliam, 316 

7. Ibid, 

8. Ibid. 



\\ 



)vln' 



ihool 



of his inBtruotion and bo on until tha whole town had recelvsd 
their part of the teaching. Thi"? was called the "moving or 
perambulatory" school. 

Th^ to^wn of Ngvfieldg beara thp; 9arlie«t r-^cord of those 
town higtories examined which had definite reference to the 
moving fichool. In this town, in 1703, the schoolmaster w^s to 
ksep school three fnonthe in th^ meeting house and the rest of 
the time at the home of four of the citizens. ^ At? early as 
1728, Exeter divided the ^^chool year so that the children of 
each -section of the town might enjoy their proportion of 
instruction.^ r^ye, in 1729, voted that the '^'eleotmen be 'Empow- 
ered to hire a schoolmaetBr and "move him several tiraes, as 
they see cause for the convenience of the children f.oing to 
school. 

Ten years later it w-^f? voted that there should be " a 
movinj gchool, and that every party that was to have the 
benefit of the raovini'; school should provide a house to hold 
it in.'* By the term "party" must have been meant "part" in 
reference to the town. 

At the very first school meeting of Concord, in 1731, 

instead of a vote being taken to provide the town with a school, 

as one -'Vouli expect, we find the unusual provision for school 

5 
to be keot in "two of the most convenient parto of the town. 

It is rao^t probable, as stated by Wr. Lyford, in his History of 

Concori, thi^ vas the moving school, the sam- teacher, one 

school following the other in part o;" the time. 

1. Fi^.ts, History of Newfields, 328 

2. Bell, History of Exeter, 2 :;8 

3. Parsons, History of Rye, 96 

4. Ibid. 37 ^^ ^ 

5. Lyford, History of Concord, Vol. TI, 1204 



Lvided 
ihool 



This speedy provision for a moving, gohool aoon after the grant 
of Concord, which was in. 1735,1 must be aocounted for by rapid 
increase in population, 

f^irailar to Concord is the case of Hollia, the first settle- 
ment of which was in 1730.'^ "me first reference to public 
schools was in 1749. "^ In 175^ it was voted that "the school 
should be moved for the benefit of the town.^ Moreover, it 
was to be moved four places, or quarters, each quarter to keep 
school where it pleased,-^ \mherst was incorporated as a town 
in 1736,® but there are no record!? of any schools until 1762, 
where a vote .vas taken "to keep a school in the five divisions, 
the 'Selectmen to divide."''' Again in 1771, the town directed 
that " the school should be kept some [jart of the ti«ie in 
several parts of the town.^^ 'Similarly there are records of 
the moving or perawbulatory schocl in M^.ncheiBter,^ Canterbury, ^^ 
Londonderry ^^ and Rindge, 

There were many inconveniences in the moving school. 
The people in each section had to accept whatever time of year 
for their period of ichooling that the Selectmen choose to give 
them, Ocoasionally they had to be satisfied with the amount of 
time the "Selectmen decided upon. But the gr-^atest inconvenience, 
perhaps, was the fact that they were unable to exercise their 
choice in providing their own sohoolraaster. The town of Rye, 
in 1756, made a complaint of this sort. Rye, for ^jq^^^ years, 

I. Lyford, History of Concord 

3. foroe'iter, History of HoUis, 33 

3. Ibid. 103 

4. Tbli. 104 

5. Ibid. 

3. ^ecomb. History of i\jnherat, 10-11 

7. Ibid. 313-319 

8. ^tearna. History of Rindge, 275, 27G, r?78 

9. Potter, Hi-tory of Manchester, 740-741 

10. Lyford, Hietory of Canterbury, Vol. I, 378 

II. Manchester Historic Ass'n Collection, Vol. V, ^71,^03, ol6 

TO O + ao-B^^ tl-t .^ +/^7»1r nf ^1 n(i 7fl . 276 i 



was a parish of Newcastle, formerly known aa the Handy Beach 
Dif^trlot, and >va3 f^ubjeot to Newcastle in school affairs, 3 
So we may judge that Newcastle had not chosen a schoolraagter 
for Rye to her liking, for there was an article in the warramt 
of 1756 which reads "to see If Pariah will vote the school 
money shall be divided and let each party hire a schoolmaster 
accordins to their likin,5."3 The records do not tell how this 

Parish responded, but in 1757 there -vas a vote "to see if the 

rided ^ 

iool Parish would settle the school in two places, or at the center."* 

In 1763 it was voted that "two schools should be kept in the 

Parish the present year,"^ ^o the keeping of two schools, 

each with a teacher of its own, was but another step toward the 

organization of the district, Thi ^ step we call the "divided 

school." The "^electiTien of ICxeter, in 1743, were instructed, 

out of the 140 pounds appropriation for schools, to hire a 

standing school in the town for the ensuing year, and the seve-r-al 

branches of the town should have their share of the money allow- 

g 

ed to tham in proportion to what they paid. This, without 

doubt, is an illustration of the divided school, 

Canterbury, also, offers a good example of this step in the 

evolution of the district school. In 1767 the inhabitants wor'^ 

still having the moving school.''' In 1774 ve hear of this vote 

being taken- "that the people living above ?obonduggady Pond 

. y have the benefit of their school money laid out among themselves 

at the discretion of the *^electraen, "^ And in 1786 it was voted 

' that the schools should be kejt in the several parts of the town 

in classes, evjry clags was to provide their own teachers and 
/ have the benefit of their own money, 9 

1. Parsonf^, History of Rye, 96 6. Bell,Hip.tory of Exeter, 389 

2. Ibid, 7.Lyford,Hls?tory of Canterbury 

3. Ibid. Vol.1, 379 

4. Ibid. 8. Ibid. 380 

9. Thid. 



(strict 



Up to 1757 the inhabitants of Hollis had had the moving 
school,^ That year the town voted 400 pounds, 0. T. for "a 
BChool," and "that it be granted to every gui table number of 
persona that shall agrea tog-^ther in any part of the town their 
proportion for keeping a school among themselves, and those that 
dont join, their money is to be paid into the Treasury for a 
school in the middle of the town."*^ Lyndeborough shows the 
same evolution, first the moving sohool, then the divided,*^ 

This last illustration brings u* to the name by which 
these local divisions of the divided school were designated 
before they were legally known as districts. Perhaps at first 
the inhabitants of the town could distinguish these divisions 
as to certain directions in town, or by a certain well known 
citizen's house, or at the south or north fork of the or^ek, 
etc. At any rate, these divisions came to have different names 
in the different towns. In many cases they were used merely 
as geographical locations, and as such were not the early befi;in- 
nlngs of the district. Then they beoran to af?sume certain powers 
that set them off as units apart from the town organization, 
then they were in reality the district. j 

"Parts" was a natural designation for the early district. 
?:xet^r sho-vs the use of "i^art" In the early district. In 1739 
this vote was taken in Exeter- that 1?!0 pounds be raised by the 
F5electmen for schools to be apportioned: that one end of town 
by certain roads should belong to the town school, but that the 
remaining part of town have proportion of money to be improved 
in schooling.^ By this vote one part of town was to draw their 

1. Worcester, Hletory of Hollis, 104 

2. Ibid. 

3. Donovan I "Woodward, Lyndeborough, 354-355 

4. Bell, History of Exeter, 388 




proportion of money for a school amon ■ themBelves and not to 
be a part of the town achool. The divided school in Hollis, 
as discussed on p. m 1757 ^ave liberty to any number of 

persons who ahould agree in any part of town to have their 
proportion of the money for keeping a school among themeelves.l 

That "quarters" was an early form of the district is 
shown in the case of New Ipswich in 1764, where there were 
four quarters, and e^ch quarter was to provide a place for 
the school. Four years later the town was divided into 
four districts.*^ 

!?anbcrton voted in 1774 to let each "quarter" have its 
part of thirty dollars raised to hire a school. * 

That the dioceses "in ^Peterborough were early forms of 

the district is probable from the fact that in 1790 there 

was a vote to divide the town into five dioceses, "5 and in 

1791 there was a schoolhouse built upon each of the dioceses 

and were designated as the southwest, southeast, middle east, 

north east and north west districts,^ 

An unusual appelation in C-interbury for the early district, 
?arly 

^orms ^^9 *o "tbe conditions of the times, was that of "fort." A vote 

:' the 
strict ^* ^^^ annual meeting in 1758 was as follows: "Voted 200 pounds 

O.T. for the benefit of scho-ling the children and that at each 

of the forts people shall enjoy the b'^nefit of their own money 

in their own Fort.''' This is explained by the fact that Canter- 

1. Worcester, History of Hollis, 17 

2. Kiclier ' Tould, Hiitory of Nev los'-vich, 194 

3. Ibid. 

4. funnels, History of '^anbvrton, lr;0 

5. fvmith, Hi:^tory of Peterborough, 104 

6. Ibid. 105 

7. Lyford, History of Canterbury, Vol. I, 377 






bury waa a frontier town and the people had to be prepared 
at all times for the Indians, The English and French were 
fighting for the poaaes^ion of Canada, so the safe places for 
children were in the forts, which were divisions of the town 
just as the dioceses, quarters and parts were divisions. 

The term "classes" was but another form for districts for 
in 1786 in Canterbury, it was voted that the schools shall be 
kept this year in the several parts of the town in classes and 
for every class to provide their own teachers and have the 
benefit of their own money. Here, besides having their own 
money, they were empowered to hire their own teachers, another 
power of the district, 

'Squadrons, as emfowered ly the inhabitants of Amherst, 
were the early listricts. In 1'779, it was voted that the town 

be divided into squadrons for "schooling, and that each squadron 

2 
have their part of the money that shall be raised for schooling. 

In 1779, in Fitzwilliam, five men were chosen a committee to 

provide the school in each "squadron to provide houses and to 

see the money laid out in its prorer season. ""^ Mr. Norton, 

author of the history, says that the men were chosen from the 

different parts of the town^ and so the inference is that 

there were five squadrons or districts in Fitzwilliam in 1779 

and these men corresponded to the prudent commission of later 

years. li.T, Worcester, author of the ""istory of Hollis, says that 

voluntary ^s-jociations in different parts of the town for sohocl- 

Ing were called by various names as cla-^ses, school societies and 

1. Lyford, T^i^tory of Canterbury, Vol. T, 3o2 

3. *=!ecorab. History of Amherst, 300 

3. Norton, History of Fitzwilliam, 317 

4. Ibid. 



and squadrons^ and were the early districts although he does not 
aoecify the powers that were given them similar to those of the 
district.^ 

To summarize, we may say that the first school was the on*? 
held In the center, many times in the home of one of the citizens; 
then, as the population increased and spread outwards, it made 
the distance too great for some of the pupils living in the 
outskirts to attend the school at the center, so there had to 
be provision made for these and there came into existence the 
"moving school." The portions of the town that received the 
moving school gradually developed so that they wished to hire 
their own schoolmaster and maintain a school of their own, bo 
next we sse the "divided school" whereby several portions of 
the town could keep school and not be subject to the time of 
year or the choice of schoolmaster that the «^electmen saw fit 
to give them. 

That these divisions early assumed some of the powers of 
the district as drawin^^ their own proportion of school money, 
hiring their own teachers, etc., has been discussed. 

Since these portions now had their own sohoole, they were 
designated by different terms, as squadrons, classes, societies, 
parts, etc. Obviously, the next step is the district itself, 
the inevitable result of these local divisions. The law which 
empowered towns to divide into districts was passed in 1805, 
and has been discussed in "Part I, page 10 of the thesis. Pome 
towns did not divide until after this law was passed, but the 
majority made their divisions before. 

1. Worcester, Hif^tory of Hollis, 104 

2. Ibid. 



I 



upport 



Concord diatriot in 1744,-^ New Inawich in 1764,'^ =^wanzey 
in 1773,2 Lyndeborough in 1777,'^ Ja^frey in 1778,^ Fltzwilliara^ 
and Araherat in 1779,''' Claremont in 1781, ^ Manchester in 1783,9 
Lebanon in 1784, ^^ Haverhill in 1786, ^•'- Rindge in 1789, -"-^ 
Peterborou,sh in 1790, ^•'^ Rye in 1796, •'"'^ ''arner in 1804,15 T;:xeter 
in 1739,1® Canterbury in 1758,1''' Candia in 1835,18 Hollis in 
1757 and '=?anborton in 1774. It ig clear that the majority 
districted before the law of 1805. Of twenty-one towns, eighteen 
districted before the la-v of 1805. 

Fran my investigation of town histories and records, I found 
five ways ly vhich the inhabitants of the districts of New 
Hampshire raised funds to support their schools. These were: 
1. Taxes 



ethods S. School land 

of 
chool 3. Literary fund 



4. Notes and mortgages on real estate 

5, Produce 



1. Lyford, Rietory of Concord, Vol. II, 76 

2. Kidder & Gould, History of New Ipswich, 194 

3. Read, Hlitory of "^wanzey, 185 

4. Donovan & Tforcester, Hintory of Lyndeborough, 355 

5. Cutter, Hifiitrry of Jaffrey, 81 

6. Norton, History of Fitzirilliam, 317 

7. -ecomb. Hi -story of Amherst, 321 

8. ?aite. History of Claremont, 133 

9. Rotter, Hi^^tory of Manchester, 741 

10. Downs, History of Lebanon, 153 

11. Bittlnger, History of Haverhill, 206 
13. ''teams, Higtory of Rlndge, 37" 

13. Wraith, History of Peterborough, 104 

14, Parsons, ^^ye, 99 
15. 

16. Bell, History of Fxeter, 389 

17. Lyford, HlRtory of Canterbury, Vol. II, 388 

18. Moore, History of ^andia, 132 



Taxea were, of course, a raoat coffimon way of raising 

money for the schools. Amherst, in 1781,^ "Peterborough, 

in 1792,^ Jirindhara, in 1769, "^ and '^anborton,^ give this as 

one way by which they secured their money. Gilsum and 

Hampton Falls^ had to resort to the dog tax to aid in payigg 

for her schools. 

One large source of income Was from leasin'; the sch' ol 

lands; which could not always be sold out but couli be 

leased. In Fitzwil liain, both the ministerial and school 

lands were leased out for the term of SS9 years at the nominal 

rent of '5 cents a year on e^ch lot, the lessees advancing and 

paying the rent in full exceot this nominal rent of three 

cents, in 17 oo. The lessees and amounts paid for on^' year 

were aa follows:" 

Lot 16, Range 1 'U15.00 
"13, "5 66.78 

"11, "5 86.00 

f^ometimes the school lands were sold outright, and the 

interest on the proceeds was used for the support of the 

school. Jaffrey sold one of its school lots and used the 

interest on the proceeds,^ as did Tilaum, "^ and Candia.^^ 

The ^oh'ol lands of New Ipswich were sorae times rented, 

but we're finally sold and the proceeds funded and distributed 

tc^' the districts. ^"^ Concord^* and Perobroke^^ raised money 

on "poles and lands," 

1. '^ecomb. History of Amherst, 3ol 

3, ?5mith. History of Peterborough, 105 

3y' Morrison, History of Tindham, 140 

'A,', Runnels, Hintory of '^anborton, 112 
/S'. Hayward, History of rfilsum, 126 
/fe. Brown, History of Hampton Falls, 528 

/7y Norton, History of Fitzwilliam, 315-318 

■a. Ibid. 11. Moore, Candia, 137 

' 9. Cutter, Jaffrey, 81 1;3. Kidder & aould,New Ipswich, 196 

10. Hayward, niilsura, 126 13. Ibid. 

14. Concord Town Pecords,12 

15. Carter, ^ri^tory of "Pembroke, 302 



/■ 




•me literary fund was another Bouroe of Income. This was 
a tax laid by th.^ Btate upon the capital stock of all banking 
inatitutionB, and distributed to the towns according to their 
levy and by-law devoted to the maintenance of schools. ^ We 
find ^anborton,2 Amherst,^ Gilsum,* (until 1845) Candia,^ 
Peterborough 6 and Hampton Falls? all deriving part of their 
school money from this fund. 

In lr^37, part of ^anborton's school funds consisted of 
"noted and mortgagee on real estate" and partly "by notes 
alone considered safe and good. "^^ 

One method of raising funds seemed very much out of the 
ordinary, and that was by produce. In 1780 Claremont voted .. 
to raise 30 lb. to be raised ao wheat at five shillings per 
bushel, for the support of the school.'^ 

Now as to the methods by whihh these funds were anpor- 
tioned to the district, I found, upon investigation, that 
there wh.s on=? general method, and three methods which were 
not used to any great ext-^nt. The^e methods are: (1) accord- 
ing to the proportion of the taxes which the district paid in; 

(2) acoording to the number of scholars in the district; 

(3) equally; and (4) according to the wealth of the scholars. 
I found eleven towns that ai portioned the funds according 

to the proportion of taxe^. Theee are as follows: 

1. Hayward, ailsum, 126 

3. TRunriels, '^anborton, 112 

3. '?ecc»nb, A^mherst, 327 

4. Hayward, Til53um, 126 

5. Moore, Hiqtory of Candia,137 

6. Wraith, Peterborough, 109 

7. JBrown, Hampton Fills, 528 

8. Hunaelg, History of '^anborton, 112 

9. "^aite. History of Claremont, 133 



Town 
Londonderry, (1733) 

Exeter (1743) 
New Ipswich (1769) 
Rwanzey (1773) 
Lyndeborough (1777) 
Canterbury (1734) 
Ainhergt (1303) 
Warner (1303) 
Concord (indefinite) 
Candla(lndeflnite) 



Reference 

Manchester Historical Collection, 
Vol. V, 139 

Bell, TCxeter, 289 

Kidder & Could, New Irawich, 194-195 

Head, '^wan^ey 185-186 

Donovan & Woodward, Lyndeborough, 355 

Lyford, Canterbury, 383 

^ecoinb, Arab e ret, 334 

Harriman, Warner, 390 

Lyford, Concord, Vol. II, 1324 

Moore, Candia, 137 



Rindje- Near close of century beq;an apportionlnf^ money 

aocordin3 to rate, 
"anborton apportioned the school funds to the diatricta in 
proportion to the number of scholars in each district from 
the age of four to tventy-one years, in 1827, as did Clare- 
ffiont in lo73. The money was distributed equally amonj the 
districts in 1737, in Concord ty the fielectmen,'^ also equ-lly 
in Lyndeborough 1731-1787, but in Rindge, until the close of 
the nineteenth century it is surprising to find that the 
division of the school money was based upon the wealth of 
the scholars, 

1. Stearns, History of Rindge, 378 

2. Runnels, '^anborton, 112 

3. Sfaite, Claremont, 135 

4. Lyfori, History of Concord, 1330 



The hlgtorical study of the evolution of the diatrict school 
syatsm in New Hainpshire includes a discussion of the various 
comrnitteea connected with the schools. The earliest and moat 
important in relation to the district w=is the Coinmlttf?e compos- 
ed of the '^'electmen. From the discusf^ion of the educational 
legislation in Part I, and through quotation of town histories 
in Part IT, many duties of the i^electmen have been mentioned. 
These powers will now be enumerated, givin^; the various towns 
that mentioned in their histories a particular duty of the 
?eleo1w ^n: 

To hire school teachers, 

Peferenoe 

a. Rye (17^19) Parsons, History of Canterbury, Vol. 1, 06 

b. Canterbury (17 62) Lvford, " " " 378 

c. Candla (1764) Moore, " " " 131 

Order in what parts of town sch.ol shall be kept. 

a. Canterbury (1763) Lyford, History of Canterbury, Vol, I, 37 8 

'Assess Tax 



a. Rindcre (1794) Ptearns, History of Rlnd.t^,e, 279 

b. Jatfrey (1795) Cutter, " " " 8f 



iO 



4. Certificate sohcol-teachers as to character. 

a. Canterbury (1808) Lyford, History of Canter bury, Vol. I, 3 87 

5. Decide on place for erection of nohoolhcuses. 

a. ^eterborou^^h (1790) 'Wraith, History of Canterbury,Vol,1, 104-10 5 

b. Canterbury (1794) Lyford, « « " 383 

6. To decide when school should be kept. 

a. Concord (1740) Concord '''own Pecords,53, 59, 65,67 

b. Rye (1311) Parsons, History of Rye, 96 

7. Apportion money to each schoolhouse. 

a. Candia (1763) Moore, Higtooy of Canterbury, 130 

b, Canterbury (1794) Lyford, " " " Vol. I, 383 

8. Call ola?3 meeting in respective districts, 

(With town clerk, minister and a committee of six). 

a. Canterbury (1799) Lyford, Hi.=!tC(i>y of Canterbury, Vol. 1, 3tr4 



9. To district town. 

a. Amherst (1784) ''goomb, History of Amherst, 331 

b. Concord (1800) Lvford, History of Concord, Vol. IT, 1^30 
(■Jfith coTimlttae of six) 

o. Manohegter (1808) hotter. History of Manchester, 7 43-7'? 4 

d. Concord (1807) Lyford. History of Concord, Vol.11, 1232 
(With committee of thirteen) 

e. Lyndeborough (1808) Donovan .t Woodward, History of 

Lyndebo rough, 356 

f. "Peterborough (1790) Pmith, History of Peterborough, 104 

10. To move sohoolraaater, 

a. Rye (1739) Parsons, History of Rye, 96 

11. To pay sohoolmastsra. 

a. Gandia (1757-1764) Moore, History of Candia, 130-131 
13. To inspect schools. 

a. Rye (1790) Parsons, History of Rye, 100 

b. Gilaum (1843) Hayward, History of Cilsura, 138 

13. To a. point ^'uperintending Committee. 

a. ■Per.ibroke (1840) Carter, History of Pembroke, Vol. 1, 303 

14. To pay 'Superintending Committee. 

a. Claremont (1834) Waite, Hi'^tory of Claremont, 134 

The '^electrnen were important factors in the schools from 
early times to 1837, aft^^r the f?uperintending Conimittee had come 
into existence. 

In some instances we find certain duties of the "Selectmen be- 
ing taken over by a "School Committee" that usually consisted 
of five men. In 1781 in Rollis a committee of five was chosen 
to fix places for the school houses. 1 In ^wanzey, in 1771, a 
vote ■'fas taken that a school be kept in four different places 
of the town and a conanittee of five was appointed to settle ani 
a] point where the school should be kept.'^ Five wer'? chosen a com- 
mittee in Lyndeborough in 1773 to provide and take care of a schod 
Fitzwilliam, in 1779, chose five of its citizens a committee "to 
provide schools in each s^uarn and also to provide houses for 
1. Worcester, History of Wolli8,lC5 
a. Read, History of ''wanzey, 385 
3. Donovan i Woodward, History of Lyndeborouf^h, 354 



to keep the sohoola in and also to see the money laid out in 
its proper aeaaon. However, the number on the committee var- 

ies, as Peterborough in 1774 appointed on ita oommlttee to order 
places for the school^ and Rye, in 1812, appointed a school com- 
mittee of two.'^ 

'^'Ometimes the school ooraralttee waa appointed to dietrlct 
the town or divide the town into a certain number of parts. 
They were ordered to or;^anize the school districtg, define theirr 
boundaries and erect a new achoolhouse or purchase and repair 
the one already built, "^uch a coinrai ttea as described was chosen 
in Concord in 1307 to include the '^Selectmen and one man chosen 
from each section of the town where orders had b=!en dra^^m annually 
for school money, makinir sixteen on the committee, and they final- 
ly divided the town into sixteen districts.'* ^wanzey, in 1788, 
appointed a committee of nine men who divided the town into six- 
teen districts,^ Rindge, in 1789, voted to ch ose as many for 

g 
school coKimittee as there were districts. ^t this time there 

were eight, and two years later, ten. In 17S0 in O-ilsum ther^* 

were four men chosen a school committee indicating, as Mr.Fayward, 

author of "The History of rJilsum," says, that there were four 

districts, not definitely bounded but vaguely divided. ''ometimes 

the '=?chool committee, besides districting the town or dividing 

it into a certain nunber of 'arts, was ordered to organize the 

school districts, define their boundaries and erect a new school 

hou=!e or purchase and repair the one already built, ^uch a 

1. Norton, Hi.itcry of Fltzwilliam, 317 

2. !=!mith, History of Peterborou h, 1C4 

3. Parson-^, History of Hye, 101 

4. Read, History of ^.vanzey, 189-190 

5. ^tearna, History of Pindge, 1^^8 

6. Ibid. 

7. Hayward, History of dilsum, 138 



committee ag described was chosen in Concord in 1807 to include 
the Selsotfoen and one man chosen from each section of the town 
where orders had be ?n drawn annually for school money, making 
sixteen on the Commit+ee, and they finally divided the town into 
sixteen districts.^ In 1808 the town of Manchester chose five 
men to divide the town into "five districts for the purpose of 
schooling."'^ A committee of five in Canterbury, in I8l4, dis- 
tricted the town into nine districts."^ 

Committees for inspecting the nchoola were not legally 
empowered until the law of llPj?^ when the f^uperintending Committee 
was formed and the inspection of the schools was made one duty 
of that committee. 5 Before the opening of the ninet^^enth century, 
however, we read of two towns that looked after this phase of 
education. In 1789 Canterbury appointed a committee of six to 
inspect the school cla-sges - - - - -;'^ ^jeven years later, 1796, 
one man ooinprised the inspection committee, in 1797 and 1798 
successively, six members made up the committee,^ and in 1799 
the Selectmen, the town clerk and the minister were the inspection 
oorami^tee.^ T{y*i had an inspection committee of three in 1799.^0 

A ^Superintending Corrimittee w.i'? one of the important features 
of the law of 1827. ^ As mentioned above, Canterbury and Rye 
made provision for thi=? committee be j"ore 1800. 

1. Lyford, History of Concord, Vol. I, l.'^33 

2. Potter, Hietory of Manchester, 743 

3. Lyford, History of Canterbury, Vol. I, 389 

4. La.7g of New Hai'irshire, Pulb, 1815 

5. Ibid. 

6. Lyford, History of Canterbury, Vol. I, 383 

7. Ibid. 384 

8. Ibid. 

9. Ibid, 

10. Parsons, History of Rye, 100 

11. Charter I of Thesis, page 9 



Mr. Lyford, the author of the History of Canterbury, gtatea that 

thii? inspeotlon corrnittee must have had a general oversight of 

the 3choola, engaging the teicher for the different cla.iaes, or 

diatrlots, and after the schoolhoueeg were built, probably looked 

after the building. In Oilauin, the first indication of any 

committee similar to that of the Superintending f=ichool Comrnittee, 

was in 1816, when the 'Selectmen were appointed to inareot the 

schoclg." In \o?-2 three men were appointed a committee to 

inspect the 30hoola.-^ The first J?Ui)erintending Committee, as 

such, wae appointed in 1843.^ The first i^uperintending "School 

Cofnmittee in Clarenont waf3 in 1824''^ and the firat visiting 

cottiniittee mentioned was ohoaen the sarne year,° 

The sefviceB of the f?uperinten1ing '^'chool Committee seem 

not to have r^oeiv^.i a v = rv high remuneration, as the town records 

of ^anborton included in the town history show the salary of the 

committee for the year 184<S as follows:''' 

A. B. f9.00 
J. C. 10.50 
D.n.'?. 6.33 

Apparently, the majority of the time their services were given 

free, an ghown by the failure of any mention of salary. 

That in Bcme instances the ^Superintending Committee were 

the same as the "a-entp" of the districts, is shown by a vote 

of the town of Jaffrey, in 1801, where it was voted that the 

several agents, or 'Superintendents of the several sohoolhouses 

in the town for the time being, be at all times amenable to the 

1. Lyford, History of Canterbury, Vol. I, 383 

8. Hayward, Hi story of Gilsum, 128 

3. Ibid. 

4. Ibid. 

5. ^aita, Hi;3tory of Clareraont, 

6. Ibid. 

7. Ibid, 



Selectmen for all "the money or Drdere they may receive- - . 
ThiB vote showed that the "^eleotmen were ex officio "^uperin- 
tending Hchool Committee, In 1809 the first 'Superintending 
fohool Gommitteeraen were chosen who were known as the Infipectora 
of fohoola. 

Just ag the early inspection committee were the fore- 
ruriners of the Superintending Committee, so the agents ware the 
forerunners of the Prudential Committeemen. Agents were appoint- 
ed by the towns before the districts were organized according 
to law, and were to receive their share of the money, and inspect 
the schools. Peterborough appointed these agents from 1789 to 
1823. They were to receive their share of the money, and, as 
the author states it, to perform all the duties that later fell 
to the Prudential Committee.^ He adds that they were called on 
the town books superintendents, inspectors and agents, "^Fitzwi 111am 
voted in 1833 that each district choose its own school agent, 
and Pindge also chose an a-ent for each district.^ 

As wag discussed in the Ivducational Legislation in Part I, 
p, 11, the regular district or Prudential Committee wai ordered 
to be chosen in 1337, whose duties were to consist of various 
things. In Winchester, the report of the Prudential Committee 
for the year 1643 is interesting in that it gives in detail 

1. Cutter, History of Jaffrey, 86 

i.-i, f^mith. History of Peterborough, 105 

3. Ibid. 

4. Nooton, History of F'it^iwi lliairi, 317 

5. ^tearns, Hintory of T^indo;e, 379 



the work of the oomwitteQ of that year, 
1. Vigitel the schools frequently. 

3. Reports o*" the school. 

a, InatruotoTf? kept go'^'^ order, 

b, Cla^T male progre'=?'' in studiea. 
0. Glagq waq interested In studiea. 

3. Im^jrov^d eohcolhouge, 

a. Boujht atove^ and furniture, 

4. 'Submitted suggestions with a table prepared by 
teachers as to number of scholars, nature of studies, 
etc, , to district. 

Tl-ie Prudential Committee "vas the "high water mark" 
for coiiimittee3 in the evolution of the district. It took 
over the power'^ of the 'Selectmen to a f,reat extent, empha^iz- 
ins the transfer of control from the towns for which the 
Selectmen stood, to the district. 



1. Potter, Manchester, 74o-747 



Primary Sources 

Law8 of the ^tate of New Hampshire 

1. The Colonial Lawg of Magsachusetta. Reprinted 
from the edition of 1672, with the f^upplementB 
through 1686. Boaton, 1890. (Cambridge, 1672) 

2. Lawg of the ^tate of New Hampshire, Portsmouth, 1792, 

3. Lawo of the '^tate of New Harnpahire, Province Period 
1679-1702, Vol. I, Eiited by Batchellor, Manchester, 
N.H., 1904. 

4. Lawq of the ^Jtate of New Hampshire, Vol. II, 1702- 
1745. Edited by Batchellor. Concord, 1913 

5. La7/g of the "^^tate of New Hampshire, Vol. Ill, 1822- 
1829. Concord, 1823 

6. Law-i of the -tate of New Hampshire. Exeter, 1815 

7. Concord, Town Records, 1732-1820, Concord, N.H, 1894 



1. 

2. 

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4. 

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6. 
7. 

8. 
9. 

10, 
11. 

12. 
13. 
14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 
19. 

20. 

21. 



Town Histories of the ^tate of New Hampshire 
flecomb, History of Amherst, 1728-1882. Concord, N.H. 1883 



Windsor, The Memorial History of Boston 

Vol. IV, I68O-I08O 

Moore, The History of Candia, 1763-1893 

Lyford, The History of Canterbury, 
Vol. I, 17P.7-1913 

Waite, The History of Claremont, 
176;-1894 



Boston, Mass. 1881 
Manchester, N.H. 1893 

Concord, N.H. 1912 

Manchester, N.H. 1895 



Bouton, The History of Concord, 1725-1.353 Concord, N.H. 1856 



Lyford, The History of Concord, 
Vol. II, 1725-1896 

Bell, The History of Exeter, 1639-1888 

Norton, The History of Fitzwilliam, 

1752-1887 



Concord, N.H. 1896 
T^xeter, N.H. 1888 

New York 1888 



Hayward,The History of Oilsum, 1752-1879 Manchester, N.H. 1881 

Brown, The History of Hampton Falls, 

1640-1900 Manchester, N.H. 1800 

Bittinger, The History of Haverhill Haverhill, N.H. 1888 

Worcester, The History of Hollis, 1730-1879 Nashua, N.H. 1879 

Cutter, 



The History of Jaffrey, 
1749-1880 



Poraers, The History of Lancaster 

Downs, TTie History of Lebanon 

1761-1887 

Donovan A 'Woodward, The History of 
Lyndeborough, 1735-1905 

Potter, The History of Manchester 

Fitts, The History of Newfields, 

1638-1911 

Kidder & Oould, The History of New 
Ipswich, 1736-1852 

Carter, The Hi3tory of Pembroke, 
Vol. I, 1730-1895 



Concord, N.H. 1881 
Concord, N.H. 1899 

Concord, N.H. 1908 

T.yndeborough,N.H. 1851 
Manchester, N.H. 1856 

Concord, N.H. 1912 

Bos ton, Mass. 1852 

Concord, N.H. 1895 



■ 



23. Fitnith, The Hlgtory of Peterborough Boston, Mass. 1876 

23. Stearns, The History of Rindse, 

1736-1874 Boston, Mass. 1875 

24. Parsons, The History of Rye, 16^^3-1903 Concord, N.H. 19C5 

25. Runnels, The History of "^anbor ton, Vol.1 Bos ton, Mass. 1883 

26. Read, The History of f^wanzey, 

1734-1890 ^alem, Mass. 1893 

2 7. Rarriraan, The History of ''^arner, 

1735-1879 Concord, N.H. 1879 

28. Morrison, The History of IFindham, 

1719-1^:83 Bos ton, Mass. 1883 



Miscellaneous 

1. Manchester Historic As?^.oclation Collections, 

Derryfield, Vol. IX Manchester, N.H. 1906 

2. lilanchester Historic ^^^ociation Collections, 

Vol. V. Manchester, N.H. 1905 

3. New Hampshire Historical Collections, . 

Vol. Ill and IV Concord, N.H. 1834^ 

4. Belknap, History of New Hampshire, 

Vol. I Philadelphia 1784 



1. Volumes III and IV of the New Ha/opshire Historical Collections 
are published in one book. 



Chap. Ill, An Htfltorioal ''tudy of the Evolution 
of the D1«trlot In Connecticut 



Part I- HlfUory of the Fduoatlonal Leginlatlon 

of Conneotiout in relation to the dlntrlot. 

1. Code of IcrjO 

2. Law of 1703 

3. Law of 1713 

4. Liw of 1717 

5. Law of 1737 

6. Law of 1?41 

7. Law of 1750 

8. Law of 17r>6 

9. Law of 1795 
10. L^=JW of 1798 



Part II. Hiatory of the TCvolutlon cf the niatrlot 

f'yatere in Connecticut, 

I, The town an the unit of education, 

1. TTxo single nchool held in the center, of the 

town as in: 

a. Hartford 

b. lindgor 
o. Stamford 
d, fJuilford 

3, The moving school where one teacher made tfie rounds 

of the different rarta of the town and held flchocl a 

certain len^jth of time in each, aa in: 

a. Windsor 

b. New London 

c, Norwich 

d, Colchester 

3. The divided school where each part of the town had 
itB own teacher, as in: 

n, iTlndsor 

b, ^itaniford 

c, "Valllniyford 

d, Norwalk 

4. ?arly forms of the district tha* had certain powers 
of the later district: 

a. Parts 

p:n field 

b, ^reclnct 

'i:nfleld 

5. Formation of districts. 

II, Th 1 society as the unit of education, 

1. ^oole*iiastioal sej aratlons, 

2. l^cclefJiastloal sef aratlons with school privileges, 

3. Develoi ment of the district in the First and i^econd 
Society of Windsor, the <lreat f?wamj> Rooiety and the 
Hsw Britain Society of New Britain as to: 

a, J?lnf,le 'School 

b. Moving ^'chool 



0. Divided ''ohcol 

d. Formation into 'ilR*riot8 

e. ^^ohcol 9u port and a^ portlonni«nt of ^unda, 

f. Coirralttees 

III, Oeneral dlflous'^lon of: 
1. f?ohool 8Uf port 



a. TaxgB 

b. Lands 



(1) Land allotted to towns it time of 

settlement, 

tern Reaerve 

;ern Lmd^ ( fund=i from) 
|4) TUffhvaye in Ne? Britain 



,3) Vent' 



0. Donations 

d. Tiiition 

9, Interest t on '^'chool Bonds 

f. Revenue from prieon in Newgate 

i^. «pportion.f.ent of funds. 

a, 4ccordin2 to the li3t. 

b, fqu«illy 

0. Accordln'f. to the niuiiber of aoholars. 
d. Unequally 

3, Cwnmlttees and duti?»i of 

a, ''electinen 

b, OifltrLctlng 
o, Diatrlot 

d. Inspection or Visiting Coi'mitteo 

e, *='oh' ol Co inlttee 



Th*j firet aducational law of Oonn'^oticut wViioh had to 
do with the oommon achooln was include 1 In what la a;enorally 
known as the Code of 1650. Th-^ noteworthy thin? In this 

law was the mention of the townnhip which waf» th« unit of 
eduocitlon,^ In th** revised edition of thin code of 1650, 
oomplated in 1700 and published in 1703, the town was still 
the unit. 

In 1712 tho town was divided for eooleslastloal pur- 
poses, and the division was known as the parish or soolety,* 
It was provided that all parishes whioh were already made by 
the Asseinbly should have for the bringing up of their child- 
ren and malntenanoe of a aohool f^.e 40 shillings In every 
100 lb, in the lists of estates within the parish ^. By 
this law the money whioh lieretofore had been arplled to ths 
town was now applied to the parish, which was really made a 
ach ol district and was subcrilnate to the town. 

In 1717 the rl<;ht of taxation for the suprort of the 

ministry wa?» extended to schools,^ By thl'i law parishes 

or societies that had 70 f ami lies were obl'.»ed to keep Rohool 

for 1/3 a year} the majority of householders In sny parish 

were authorized to lay taxes for the support of the sohool, 

to ajpolnt a oolleotor and make re/;ulation for raanagercent 

of the same,''' The <ame year the inhabitants In each parish 

were authorized to ohoose a clerk and a committee of three 

to order the affairs of the society.^ 

1, Cle«8, ?d. Legislation of the Col, ^-v. 75-76 
Z, Ibid. 

3, Barnard, American Journal of TTduo. 4, 694 

4, Clevs, TTd. Legislation of the Col, ^ov, 99 

5, Ibid, 

6, Ibid. lCl-102 

7, Ibid 
S. tbld 



In 1731 a collector who r-^funei-i to fiarva v-xb Rubj-ict to the 
sania penalty an town offlo«»rB refusing?, to act. 

From 1717 to 17G6 th** growth of the parlnh was widening 
by different laws, 

A comir.ltt'je waB j pointed by the Le^iiBlature in 1736 
to 1; ok over gome land in the western part of the colony . 
comfirlBln^, the townq of Norfolk, Toshen, Can?ian, Ccrnwall, 
Kent, f^allabury and Aharon/' In 1733 the cor.ir.ittee report- 
ed that aa a result of their Inveoti nation they thoun;ht an 
act ghould be parsed wVii.oh ehould grant all the money arielng 
frofi the sale of thene weetern townfihipn to the settled towns 
in the oclony, to be divided aroon«^ them in proportion to the 
lint of polle aid ratable eeta^.e in the year la8t past, to 
bo improved forever to the u<^e o'" th*? achools ksj t In theee 
towns aooordlnr;; to law and that one of the fifty three aharea 
Into which each of the Jieven towns ahould be divided should 
be set apart for the use of the eohool or 9oh ols in the 
towns. ^ In 1737 the Tegiqiature acted upon the su.^geation 
made by the committee and passed a law dlrectln<^ the sale 

of the townahipe in the wewtern lands. The law provided 

tion 
that the apironrla-from the sale of these townships should 

be divided araon-^, the parisfes and that the oorirnittge of each 

town or towns (where there whi but one parish) should r<?celve 

the proportion of money for the support of a school. 

In 1741 the Legislature ordered that the estate and 

interest which had accumulated from the sale of the western 

1, Clews, rd. I,ep;i elation of the Colonial Ooverncent, 101-108 

2, Barnard, i>r,erlcan Journal of ^dud, 4, 7^0, 

3, Cle^-s, ^4. Le«^ialation of the Colonial Covernment, 10?5-103 

4, Ibid. 103 



laddB ehould brj ^^iven to th-s '^elsotmen, or Boclety co>raittafla 
or aohool oomfrittees in the different towna.^ Thus the 
parishes or aocletiea were rabidly gainin-^ aground favlng 
committftflfj of their own to rejeivfl the funds. In the *ot 
for "Ir portioning, "ncourar'ln,'? and Supporting '^chool8''ln 
1750, provided that- 

1. ^very tovn, where there was but one ©coleBlastical 
• oclety, having seventy families an'i eve^-y ecrjleelaatlcal 
society having that number should maintain at least one fjood 
sohool for -eleven rocnths in ^' ■" y»H'*. 

2, Ev-^ry town and society with leBfj than seventy 

f ami Ilea should maintain a school for one half of each year. 

3. Town or pari eh shculi have the forty nhlllinga 
U7)0n every ICGO lb. In the lists of each town. 

4, School funds created out of the sale of the westi^rn 
lands should be distributed amon.q; the towns and socletiea. 

5. In case of dofioienoy in euppo t of a school^ sum 
should be made up, one half by a tax on the projerty of the 
town, and the other half by a tuition or rate-bill to be 
paid by the parents or guardians, 

6. The majority of the legal voters in every town or 
aooiety were empowered to lay taxes and make agreements for 
support and raanagsment of achoola, 

7. The oivll authority and ^electrsen were constituted 
insj-ectora or vlsitOT's and directed to visit and inspect 
all schools at least once a month. 

8. The "electmen of each town, where t^ere was but one 
ecclesiastical society, and a cofnmitt.«" -^or each society 
1. Clewa, ?A, Legislation of the Colonial f^ovornnent, 1C3 



when there were more than one, ware empowered to manage all 
lands and funds belonging, to the committer or society for 
the benefit of lohoole. 

Here ii develop'^d the oominlttee for each society, show- 
ing the power of the Booiety to becop.e a distinct rmit from 
the town. 

In 17GC school dlflt riots wer*? authorized to be formed} 
power WIS given to every town or society to divide themselves 
into prop'^r and nec-^saary districts for keeping their schools"^ 
It «iq alio provided that s(jch districts were to drtw upon 
the school money appropriated to the town In proportion to 
their llet of taxables.'^ 

The evolution of th"? dls'^rict was jerfscted f^tlll more 
by the act^j of 1795 and 179 . In 1795 a conimltte= of el'^ht 
persons wa*^ ohoien by the Assembly to sell the lands belong- 
ing to Connecticut A^nt. of Pennfiylvania which had besn 
reserved by the state In It?? de«;d of oenslon to the United 
states In 17.i2; and appropriate! the avall"i of the sale «i 
a r erpetual fur.d, th? inter st of which was to be divided 
annually among th« several "^^ocleties" constiturbd, or which 
might be oonftltuted by law within certain limits* as 'school 
societies, according to the list of polls and r-^table estate 
in eaoh.^ By this act all the inhabitants llvlnp^ within 
th"? limits of the located societies were authclTied to o^aan- 
l?!e theriselves into societies. They could transact nny 

other bu^lnens on the subject of ^^cho/ling In o;eneTal.° 

1. Barnard, Smerlcan Journal of ''due. <» 701-703 

2. 'lews, T.d, Lef^lslatlon of the Colonies, 199 

3. Connectict Pub. Record, 1^, 497-49B 

4. Barnard, iieTlc^m Journal of ""due, 4 704 

5. Ibid 

6. Ibid, 705 



Single 
bhool 



In 1798 an act was pasi^ed by whloh tho town dlsa p^HTed 
«« a unit in the school system and In its placs was oatabli sh- 
ad the Bchcol society, • corporate body, provided for in the 
act of 1795, with territorial limits, soretimea coextensive 
with the town, sometimefl takin."!; In only part of a town ani in 
other oases taking in parts of two or more towns. A suitable 
number of persons, not exoe^^dins nine, wore to be Appointed 
in each society to be overseers or visitors of schools wl th 
power to examine and ?*Ti-rove -'chool-p-T^+ern and to displace 
the many found defiolent,'^ 

The Plstory of the Evolution of the 
nistrlot '"ystem in Oor.nectlcut 



In the early colonial laws of Connecticut, the town was 
the unit of education up to 1712. In that year the reco-jnitlon 
of the pariah led to division into parishes or ecclenlastioal 
societies. 

At an early date after their setMements the townf set 

up schools in the canter. Hartford in 16i2 settled 30 lb, 

on the school.'^ The first schoolmaster spoken of was in 1637 

or 163 .^ The first i.ention of a school in Windsor w-ts In 

1656-57^ and a single school was kept until 1674 when 

Mr, Cornish kept the school "five months south and seven 

months north of the Rivulet."^ In 1670 Mr. Rider was chosen 

to keep school in Ptar-'ford.^ ^ sinf^le school was kept until 

the one nchool-house in the center was thought to be too sirall 

1. Barnard, American Journal of T^'duo. 4, 706 

:\ I bid. 

3. Love, Hlfitory of Hartford, ^51 

4. Ibid. 

5. <?tilee. History of "^^' isor, T, 398 

6. Ibid. 

7. Huntington, History of ^^tamford, 343 



Uchool 



to aoooBodata ths pupils from all parts of tha town, and 
as the people at a dletance were beglnnlnjr. to feel the need 
of sohool?? nearer their own homes, ^o th.^ f^ohoole were held 
for a few weeka at a tirae in places distant from the center^. 
I found the r'^cord of twelve other towne that at first had 
one soh' ol in th'? center,'^ 

The moving Hchool emerged in Connectlout for praotl- 
Movinx ca ly the sarae reasons that it did In Massaohusetts and 

New Harcrahlre. As the towns ppread out, a school nearer 
then the one at the center wafj needed for those llvlnsr on 
the outsklrte, so the school came to them. In 1674 Mndsor 
was keepln^: a single school, which that year beoa/r.e the 
tnovin,'^ school."* A few years later it waa havln,'7 the divided 
Bchool.'^ However, in 1G98 we find the inhabitants revert- 
ing again to the movln-^ school, the reason for the change 
being that a settlei^ent had sprung up on the east side of 
the Oreat River, ^o that year a vote was taken to hire a 

aohoolmaster, the school to be kept three months on the east 
side of the threat i^lver and nine months on the west side, 
half of this nine months on the north and half on the south 
side of the Rivulet. In New London it was voted in 1698 
that money be granted for a free school teacher, two thirds 
on the west side and one third on the east side of the river.® 
Norwich had a single school until 1712,^ That year it was 



lovin/? 
»ol 



1. 

2. 



3. 
4. 

5. 
6. 
7. 

9. 



Huntington, Hl^^tory of Pta-^for i, 34*? 

Thefie tovrnf? are Guilford, Norwich, Merlden, ''ullin 'ford, 

Norwalk, Fairfield, Ne'V London, Waterbury, Derby, Fnfleld 

and Rldgefield. 
f^^tlles. History of 'flndsor, I 398 
Ibid. 
Ibid. 399 
Ibid. 400 
Ibid. 

Caulk ins, HlRtory of New London, 397 
• n » Norwich, 92 



Lvided 
)Chcol 



decided that a mohoolmagtar was to k-^ep aohool ons half year 
at tha town plot and V.-^ ot.>i«tr ^alf nt the "Far^-s" in the 
several luartera. Coicheot'jr h.ni a moving Bchool in 1716, 

to b*3 koi t at thre*? several plaoea, 

4fter the moving f»ohnnl, oame the divided f»chrol, whera 
•aoh part had its own teacher. In Stamford, in 170n, beiide 
the f^ohool in the center, the town gave lib'=5rty to the peor le 
of the east aide of Norwcaton rWer and thoae on the west 
aide of the river to hire a worrian and have 'johool on both 
aidea of the river, and the money collected in the country 
rata ahould be distributed to each school, that is, the 
three schools, aooor ling to porulation,*' The fact that 
each part waa privil9g'=>d to draw its porportion of Bohrol 
money shows that one power of th*? die trie t was aaoiBried, and 
that in some inotancefj those divided aohcola were early 
districts. In 1715 a petition frorr the faniers residing 
on the w-^Ht side of th^-? river in ^alTin-Tord was to the 
ef ect that oince so many of thera live i remote from the 
town and were at such great disadvantage as to the eiuoaticn 
of their children, they earnestly desired to havg a school 
of their o^m,^ This request wtis granted and the town waa 
divided into two school districts that year.^ 



1. Caulkim, History of Norwich, 93-94 

2. Town 'Record of Colchester, 17 

3. Huntington, TTiet ry of ^taniford, 345 

4. Davis, History of »allin-ford, 314 

5. Ibid. 



Nor^alk, in 1730, had t*^ fiob ola, cnfl at thfl nm-th snd of 



town and on'j at thq ooutr. end. 



'imllarly tfisre were divid- 



ed ;ohoolfi in five ether towns. ^ 

In flomfl instanc?^ tTr^f^e part** w^ro given certain nanan, 
Knflald oallel hir divlalonq of the dlvide-l nchool "tarts", 
foraa I" ^'^^'^ ^^'^ ^^^"^ "'*'' (iivided into five par to and not only was 
Diatriot 8*°^ part allowed tc driw 1 ta prorortion of money, but a 

Coraraittee.'Tian was li-polnted in eioh ] art to r'^oeivg the pro- 
portion of monej: due that r art and to see that it was applied 

■T 

for ^ichoollnp- when it belontred. *^o here we have the early 
dl fJtrtct 00fi;mittee, or the prudential cor.nittee, showing that 
these "parte" in ^nfleld were in reality dintricts though not 
80 called. TnfleM in 1727 oalled the divl*?lone "precincts". 
That year the town voted that eich precinct have the proror- 
tion of money belonsin/s *o them for their own improvement 
of 1 Bohool that year,^ Two other t-^sma applied to the 
early dif^trlot were "eiuaddoms" and "eocletlee" and wl M be 
di 'OU'^eed in relation to the evolution of the dletrlot in 
th^ society. 

It ie evident that wany of the townfi were divided 

Into districts before they were designated as dlRtr'cts, and 
''orraa- 

;ion betore the law of 176S which authorized then, to be formed. 

Into 

Jlatricta -tatnford hai three districts in 1702,^ '^aUin'rford had two 

in 1715,6 Norwalk two in 17;C,'7 T^edding two in 174^,8 

1. TTill, History of NorwaU, 110 

2. Theee towne wore M-^riden, infield, faterbury, 
Re "ling and Pldgefl«ld. 

3. Allen, History of i^nfleld T, 414 

4. Ibid. 

5. M'.ntlnrton, Hl?itcry of "^taiiiford, 346 

6. Davifj, History of "a lingford, 

7. Hall, History of Norwalk, 110 

8. Tod , History of Heiding, 138 



aitical 

u 



Fnfield thr«e in 1750,1 T?ldgQfi9ld five in 1761^^ and 
six in 1763.1-^ Other dlvisionn were formed before 17f^r,, 
but were formed from the sooletiee whloh will be discuaned 
next* 

The weparationfl for school purposes were to olo^iely 
linked with the reparation for eooleei'^atloal rurp^ see that 
to have a clear underet^andln.? of there, one fnu??t oon^^lder 
the •ooleeiaetioal affalro of the eirly aettlern of Oornect- 
iout. The ohuroh in thoie day^i v t^? the mcuI and cent'=jr of 
the town. At first there was one ohuroh for the entire 
settlement, but aa the ^e^^letient c^rew thrne dwelllnr on the 
outekirte would grndualTy cj^.i'? a*^^' endanrje at +ihifl central 
I)laoe and finally would a«»V for services to tas held in their 
own neighborhood. '^Ith a Ti^'nint^r among; them, a r.eetlng 
house would be built anl an on*^; «.'oul) naturf^lTy oonolude, 
the next step was the eohool. T*:<^ nembern o^ these chu>*ch 
0r'anl7,at1 ens callei th«>ae Hvielrnfl "societies," so that 
nai.i? Qa'^meJ to roeon a cori..oany oC people whons cost chnracter- 
iatic object wag the welfare and preservation of the church. 

Thi!? diviiion into separate --aT-lBh orfranir.ations is 
very well illustrated in the h:<>qtory of ^^tarsfcrd. As the 
town inore 'sed In population, the inhabitants living to the 

north, about eleven riile!i fron ''tan.ford, anV*?d to att<»nd 

4 
meetinr at Pound ^id?e. Until 'ibout 1^7?; th**! peer le of 

Greenwich, in th? sou ♦^h west pi rn coj'ner of ''^tap-ford, were 
regard >'1 ^« belcnGin/; to tha^ rRi»-!nh ^r,i they ha.i no r^^nilar 



1. Allen, History of ^nfield I 

2. Telle', History of Rldfrefleld, 15fi 

3. Ibid. 

4. TTuntin.^^ton, Hintcry of ^tamford 14.''— 144 



;l9- 
iiaat ioal 

jpara- 
:iona 



iit ioal 

>0l8 



llOp- 
Of 

iriot 
lin 
firat 
Lety 

iaor 



or permanent aooiety. In 172C the Inhabitants of the 

northern portion of "^ta ford ware rflleaned from paying to the 
rainiBter at ?;tamford if they attended worehlp at Bedford and 
helped maintain the mlnieter there. ^ N««» Canaan, which was 
made up of carta of Norwalk and ^tamford, waH a diatijict 
pariah of ??ta";ford In 1731,*^ In 1682 the Inhabl tanta of 
fimabury were granted perraiafilon to gather a churoh."* 

Aa to the aettin,'^, up of -"jh ola in^ the new aooletiee, 
"^iinabury, In 1734, waa allowed 1 ta school money from ^^ tan ford. "^ 
An inatance where a aooiety waa formed with achool prlvilegee 
la well 'la church wan that of the Fast farmers in Ouilford 
who were jlven perml^aion in 1702 to be a aooiety by themaelves, 
to procure a mlnlater and build a rieetlnt^ house. ^ The f^^eneral 
Court gave them {lerraiaaion to embody thenaelv'^a in churoh 
estate and to hav^ the privilege of the achool money within 
the bounds of the "cclety. 

The develofment of the district within the f^'ociety la 
ahown in the history of Windsor and New Britain. 

Up to 1703 the aohool affalra in Windsor were in charge 
of the town.' «fter 1702 the control of achool matters was 
gradually taken over by the ecolaalaatlcal aocietiea or 
{iarlshes.^ In 1G98 there waa the movin-^ achool in Windsor, 
thre*? months on the e^at aide of the Oreat ^iver and nine 
montha on the weat aide. in 1712-1713 that portion on the 

1. Hijntlri -ton. History of '^ta'^i ford, 144 

2. Ibid. 145 

3. TbVi. 

4. T^ubllc Peoor 1 of Connecticut V, 217 

5. TTiintlfi'^ton, Hlatory of "^tar,fori, 346 

6. ^ubllo ^acorlSof Connecticut V, 31-35 

7. Ibid. 

8. ^^tlleT, Hlatory of Ancient irindaor, 400 

9. Ibid. 401 



w«at aide of the Connectlout river became the first "oclgty 
of 5?in(i3or and that portion east becai-e the Second Society 
of Windsor.^ From 1713-1713 to 1720 the First '^'oolety had 
a single aohool. That year it was voted that the Society 
would have two Bchools, ona on the north aide and one on the 
south qide of the Little river, to be ker t by two naflters,* 
Thia, however, wig refused by the General Aseernbly.S in 17r?2 
30 Iba, was raised on the ^'oolety liet for eohooling and It 
was votei to divide the money accordinp; to the llete of 
estatee on e-ich aide of the Rivulet, and to a r ly to the 
Aseembly for a division Into two school sooleties.^ Their 
petition wa3 opposed by twenty thre«? persona wh'^ said that . 

1. One school at two hons'iT, as )ieretofore, is preferred. 

2. One fnaater cm teach all the scholars, 3, Multlrlloatlon 
of schools vlll increase expense. 4. New -lohool houses will 
have to be built. 5. It «rill open a door for school 
Booiotlea.* < petition, however, si-^ned by sixty-one 
parsons in 1713 r^^fiulted that year in the First ?='ociety being 
divided into two school districts, one on the north side, and 
the other on the south side of the Rivulet.*^ In 1773 the 



f^oc Lety was divided into three dlstrlots. 



9 



«bout 1700 the educational interests of the town east 

of the river seem to have passed Int the hands of the ''ooiety 

1. ''tile^^. History of 'Ancient Tindaor, 400 

2. Ibid. 407 

3. Ibid. 403 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid. 

6. Ibid. 

7. Ibid. 

Q, Ibid. 4f^4 

9. Ibid. 




under th*? oharge of Rev. v.r. Kdvrirda, 



1 



In 1698 there was one 



aohool. 



2 



In 1703 it -vaq voted that "there ehall be a eohool 



lop- 
of 

'tri ot 
t e 
kt 
ip 
lety 
lew 
ia'n 



and dlvid-id ae it waa la^t year"^ from whloh we know that it 
wa« the moving «?ohool. In 1713 it w^q voted that the school 
money be divided Into three parts, one above ^oantio riv=?r, 

another from there to '^•^t. Newberry's Brook, and the third 

4 
from there to Hartford ''ine. Tn 1718 it -wan voted to keep 

the !=ioh''Ol« In two plaoeg. "Thy two, Instead of three, as 

in 171;^, Is not understood, unle'=?^ they washed to combine 

certain rarts, Tn 1719 a similar vote v?as taken, one school 

to be located below and the other above the meetino; house, ^ 

In 17^11 three school^? wer-? voted for. Tn 17.'^4 schools were 

kept in six places. *^ How many districts the "^eoond "Society 

was finally divld-^d Into is not r-^orrded, 

'Jhen the oblig^itlon to maintain a school wao extended 

to societies in 1717, the Oreat ?^warcp ?^oclety of flreat Britain 

•I olnted a Corcmltteo to see about a school.'^ This Committee 

reported that because their "oclety was so scattered and it 

was so dl "Clcult for the children to attend a general sohrol 

In. the ?!oclety a great part of the year, they recommended that 

the 'Society be divided into five s-juaddanis for the more crn- 

venlent school of the children. ^° The brands of ennh s^uaddair 

were given ani the money allowed was to be divided to each 

1, ''tiles. History of snclent 'Windsor, 404 

P,, Ibid. 400 

3. Ibid. 407 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid. 

6. Ibid. 

7. Ibid. 

a. Ibid. 408 

9. Csjtip, HlTtor-y of New Britain, ^15 

IC. Ibid. "16 



8 luaddam aocor ling to th*? H??t of the Inhabitants wlttvln 
the lif'iita, and the r^nt of thfl oharj;e« wan to b« left with 
th9 parents or iiJiatera of the ohildrfln.^ i^rom the dlvlalon 
of raonsy on*? reust oonoluda that thin w^a th*? divided school 
and W-1-? the bef^innino; of the district eystera. The New Britain 

Society of New Britain was incorporated in 1754,2 At once a 

Lop- 

^^ meeting was held and a vote taken to keep a soh ol^. Three 

le 

I**^'^^ men were chosen a oopimittee to order a school,^ A school 

n t...3 

If Britain ^;^3 g^t up and sunported, aside from the county and land 
oolety 

money, by one half rate on the scholars and one half by the 



'of I^aw 
rltain 



"oolety.'^ Tl-iis Ne-'ir Britain ^oclety, it is intere:^ting to 
learn, was the North siuaddan, o^ district of the fJreat 

'^•*a«ip "'oolety.i^ In 1V75 a ootr;raltte=» was irpointed to view 
the -oclety and form lines for four sohoo' dintrlots in the 
Society,"'' Tn 1706, New Britain, in aocordan.e with the law, 
organized the Nev; Britain School "^ociety, ayj olntinj, a Moder- 
ator and flch-^ol ooii.mi ^teo of four,^* 

To axxi'jn^r' za the forniatlon of dlotriots in th^ 'Societies 
is in thfl to-s-iifi: tha rsr^^at '^wamp Society of New Britain had 
[ricts five siuadda.tis or dl'it riots in 171o,^ the '^ooiety of Stamford 
^•tie& ha^ twenty-el-iht in 1734,^^ the First Society of Waterbury 
had four In 1738, ^''' the Stratford «^ooiety of Bridgeport had 
three in 1706, l*' the iP'arminjsbury winter ^arif^h of ''olco* t in 
1770 had nine,^"^ the Farmington "nciety of New Britain was 

1. C.,; , TM^itory of New Britain, i^ „ tf* * * •» * v, n-^- 

' ' ' 10, Bronson, History of T!i%terbury,n3r 

11. Orout*,"! story of Brid-report,,!] 

in, OrCutt,TM itr.T^v nf "nl cot + ,198 



>rn:i- 
of 



• 


Ibii. 


•n? 


3. 


Ibid. 


313 


4-. 


I bid. 




5. 


Ibid. 




6. 


Ibid, 




7. 


Ibid. 




c3. 


Ibid. 


«?19-roo 


^, 


Ibid. 


•U6 



Taxes) 

•neral 
iscuss- 
ons of 
»thods 

i 

)port 



land 



pport 



dlfltrlcted in 1772,^ although the numb<sr of dlBtrlcta waa 

not given, th<» First ''ool<>ty of Kaw Milford had tventy-one 

in 17b2 ^ and th^ Flrat ^oclety of Dan^iry hid thr-e in 1791. -^ 

Viriou? m«thod« of supfOT-t w»»re used lay th^na dlfltrlota 

and fioolsti'^fl. Tax<9fl wa>i a /fio«jt common rosanw. It la roost 

probabla tJiat thl^ m(9thod waa employad In all the towns and 

societi'sa, tHit only tJifellP'^ stive a dflflnlt^ ^statement, ''"hftra 

in quit4» a dlff^renoe In th« amount of rat,«»q levied for smpfort 

of th'j fjohoolq In th*? towns and aooietl'^s. For aaveral yaara 

from 1770 th^ Flrwt "oclety of Oullford grantad a ra*a which 

waa generally a farthing or i h.ilf panny on the pound, ^ "^ha 

i^ooiety of Torrinj;ton in 17'jl laid a tax of ona panny and ona 

half on th« llata for aohoola,® in 1770 four ihillinsa on tha 

pound fof aohools,^ and aft^r 17^5, aoma yaara voted a tax of 

fro aix to aiijht rdillR, aoKiatlirK^a on-? oant on tha dollar but 

jr, ore frajuantly aavan and alght mi 11a, '^ 

Land vfJiq another raathod of support, "r. a♦•^'^ -i ^hia land 

waa aat apart for th^ b'snefit of th" achoola at the time of 

tha aattlawant of tha town and waa aithar sold and tha interaot 

on the prooeade davoted to the aohoola, <"'- ^hey ware rentad 

and tha rant uaai for tha aarca purpoaa. Tullford,ln in71,flat 

aaida lani for fiohool purpoaaa.*^ "tnfiald, in 1679, aat aalda 

a forty aora allotii!«nt for aohoola-*-^^ -^^^ ' in 160^ -'- ^ b,ini"i*'«»d 

1, Cam , HlHtory of New Britain, .'!13 

'\ Croutt, History of Waw Mllford -i ^h ?-... ^ tar, 17:^-17 t 

3, Haily, History of "^anbury, 343 

4, Theaa ara '^Inoha^tar , Ouilford,Norff io'., nolohsTtisr, Fni'lald, 

"tairtford, Maridan, Padaini!, T?idga.riald, '^^^rhury, 
loahan and ^allin^'ford 

5, 'tairHar, History of ^utLford •*. MHdlaon,400 

6, Croutt, History of -^^ r^^-t 'ton, 145 

7, Ibid. 

6. Ibid, 146 

9. ;^»^8lnar, History of Guilford. 

10, Allan, History of ^Cnflald, I 64-65 



»rn 

srve 

tds 



kways 



lationa 



bury. In 1698, q«t aside land for «ohool purf.o3«?8. 

The "^eqtern T.and^* w^is anothflr aid to thfl rjohool« of 
Connecticut. Th % origin of thl'? land ha-? b«^^n ilTOu^^iod on 
pag9 4 of Part I. Th-"^ sociati'Sfi nnd districts of atarUiry*^ 
Nsw Milford/ Ns V nritaln,^ Ridgeflftld,^ and Norwich''' 
derend'^i on thf> ^astern Landn for a part of th«ir surport. 

By thi la* of 1795 all th3 district?? in tli« state w*»r« 
benefittsd by th'? Interest of tho fund arising from the 
^stsrn "Remt-ry/^ Lands, th«» origin of ^fhioh has bs-^n dlscuss- 
•d on Page 9^ ^f Part I of this chaptsr, '^hi.^ fund was 
distrlbutQ'i among the diatriots in proportion to the number 
of children in each,'-' 

Portions of the hli?hways in Nex Pritain had been sold 
or granted to individuals before 1784,^ ^t a town meeting 
that year it was voted to sell th» hl-'hways not nscessary 
for public una and to a rly th-^ prooe-^do tc defray the 



• xpen^^e of Mohools in each society. 



10 



Tho parish of New 



Britain a ;,olntsd ". oomn-ilt^e-* of four to make the sale and 

tti^y '^old frojfi th ^ highways land unneoessa'-y for travel to 

the amount of 963 lb. 1-3 s. d. 

Tarnations also formed a part o^ tho school au'port. 

The Fir^st '^oclety of Hgur Milford d^iriviJ. i art of Ita school 

money from alegaoy of Benoni '^tebblns, who left It land In 

175:, uid vrhloh was sold ^or rtCO lh,^2 liy. ^ Ls'.Tin, of New 

1. -Ulan, History of rnfteld, uh 

S, Bronson, Wlitorv o^ "^-^rbury, ''.^S 

3. Ibid. 

4. Oroutt, TTistcry of Ka-v -ilford, 173 

5. Camr , History of New Britain, 2iex 

6. ^kil^, T'lfltory of ^idge'"ield, 150 

7. Caulktns, Hfcatory of Norwich, 547 

'.. Ibid. ir. Ibid. 



Ltlon 



Int -? r ; ; t 

on 



«V riuS 

ft VI' 

son 



Hav«n, a native of foloott , left "^8500. CO to tha '^ohool 
^colety of ^olcott to b^ htld as \ p«nr.'in<snt ^"und for th« 
«nooura''.9<nsrxt o^ tha dlfitriot fichoolo of th<? town.^ The 
inoci'fi^ of thiq fund amount ?i to tSCr, ro per yf^ir and w^n to 
bo paid to th^ dlfitrlcts in proportion to th« mur.b'^r of 
ohildrmi in e?ich. 

Th<5 tuition frc. th-? puj-ila form«j4 another soun'? of 
incora** in th*? diatrlotfl and flOcletiwB of T^e--^ Milford,'' 
fallln-rford,* ''Indeor,^'^ -ind Woloott,^ Tuition ^ometimea 
con«5l«t«ri of «»ood, *^ ^n "^nfield in 174'i it wma vot^d *■>• '♦ 
every part of the to*n that had f^ohools wh? to hav« Ita 
fjroportion of wood,^ 

Th.) difltriot<« in ^'^'Mtn^ ^ar^ ben«jfitt'?d by %he interest 
ariaing on achool bon.l?i, to b*^ a ; roprlated by th*» committee 
of the di*»t riots annually. 

"^n unuflual distribution o^ money to th*? dintrictn waa 
th«j r^vttnue from the prison in Newgate whioh paid ?7000.00 
to the school di«trlote in the '^tate for flohool apparatus.^ 

Enfield in 17'13 vot - ' <'>=)+ 1 --' lb. old tenor be pni' ^o 
the aohoole xai that th« sura g-ranted nhruldl be paid in fi;ocd 
board*, iron, pork and grain at ou^^ent pricefi,^ 

schcclo in ioOO t^n follows: (1) ^ roiluo'? of RnleH of landa in 

Litchfiold County, (z) j^roduce of excis'; duty laid on rum and 

1, Orcutt, Hiitory of ^oloctt, rol 

3, Ibid. 

3. Croats History of N-^w ?aifc"d, 17;i 

4. Daviti, Hi-tory of ▼ailin- ford, 315 

5. "tiles, Hifjtcry of nnd5?or,I,39?3 

6. Croutt, RiN^tory of "«roloott, '"01 

7. All«n, History of ^Infield I, 3'JO 
a. Toil, History of Reillns, 139 

D. 

10. iU-»n, Tfi^tory of Engield T, 400 



lOW 

Ippor- 
lonsd 



•ft;; en 



and tea J (3) 40 8hllll.ni'.8 on th« tJiou^and; (4) produoe of aalefl 
of vftntftrn lanio; (5) in ca??9 of d*»floirjnoy ^ tax on Boholars. 

There wero four r-iethodR of apportioning money. 'According 
to th«) list waq the method used by: the Orent f^warip ''ociety 
of N^jw Britain in 171'^ In aj)rortlonin'T, money to Itn five squad- 
rons,'^ Ncrwalk in 17.']0,3 ^j^^ First "^ociety of »irdsor in 17^2/ 
Pediing In 1764,^ th<9 First 'Society of Winohes+er In 1773,*' and 
the <^oc!^ty in Stanford in 1775,"^ R«d'?lng In 174.n,8 ''nfisld 
in 1749,^ and the Firat -ocjety of Pid*?-? field in l-^Bi^ divided 
the 'school money equally, ^'^ Th*^ town of <^taraford in 17G2 
divii-ij the »ohool woney acoordin' to* the number of scholars, 
and the First ^'oolsty of Ns^ Mllford distributed the «^tebbln 
Legacy in 175e by the same method^^as did the '^ohool ♦Society 
of foloott wlt}i the Lewis legaoy.-^'^ Enfield In 1730 gave 
200 lb. to the niidile part, 40 lb. to the rart north of 
Fr-^shwa'-.er, 30 lb. to fall%p, to ^'rltioo 38 lb, and to «mlth 
End 9 Ib.-^** 

's in ■^uasaoh-^etts and New HamriShire the <='eleot en wsre 
an important committee, both in the early history and the later, 
as evidenced by the law of 1750, ^^ '''hey provided school- 

I. Teller, Hl.-^tory of ^Id.crefield, 156 
?,^ Catcp, Tfi„t.ory of Ne* Britain, PIG 

^- \hJJl, HL^tory of Nor^'alk, 110 

4, '"tlls.4, TTl=^tory of 'nclent Windsor, 403 

5, Tod 5, wi-tcry of ^eMin'-, 13.-; 

^» K^i^in-iJ^ TTi:,tf}ry of ''lnoh'^Tt«?r, 217 

7« Hunt in^jtofi, ' Htstcry of ^'taiVLford, 348 

8. Told, Hi-itory of Red Jin'i, 138 

9, All^n, Hi^Jtcry of 5:nfield I, 414 
ic. Teller, m^tory of Pldgsfl-ld, \^H 

II, Hunt in,^ on, Hi'Uory of ^tai;:ford, 343 
13. Orcutt, History of New Milford. 173 

13. Orcutt, History of 'oloott, 201 

14. Mien, TTlatory of ^nfleld I, 4lC 

15. Oarnard, amerioan Journal of •'^d. 4, 701-703 



ilt*« "s 



maatsrs, Insjootfld th« qohoole,^ ordered th« tliri« and tl^en, 
plao9 and plao«s, and divld'^d th^ f?oh ol money. "chool 

00mmitta<9fl w«!r« n point »1 to y arform many of *h" duties that 
th« '^electuen per;orit.e:. They determined the bound.^ of the 
plaoe where the «^ohool was to be kept,' proportioned the money 



to the nchoola,° agreed with the nohrcl-maeter, rented the 

school lands'' and saw to the re- airing oi Bchool-houses, 

fence?, eto.^ 

'1th th-i forraatlon Into dls^trlote there wib the committee 

to district the towns and eocietiee, ^nfield in 1754 ajpointei 

^ot- a co/croittee of nine to district, ^ T^addin?' In 1764 a co .'vltte* 
joro- 

>•• of three, ^^ r^d rinn'oury In 1789 a oonunlttee of three. ^2 

\9 tho '^i/ipiiona or aocietiT^a of the town became able 

to Balntain thei f own =johool9, instead of being «ubject to a 

general oo/iunlttee, they wer*^ eubject to a conirilttee a pointed 

from their own parta. In 1750 in infield the '^ohooln were 
rlct- 

FOm- divided into three parts and a certain eum was granted to each 

part. The dietrict oormittee here in evidenced toy the fact 

that one i.an from e-ich part was appointed to take care o" the 
money for hie part,^* Tn 1790, in ^incheeter, there were six 
districts !\r\'i one fuan a coniraittee for each of the five district* 



I. DavlB, History of ?allln^for1, 110 
?., Camp, Hifitoryof New Britain, ni7 

3. Ulen, TTiRtory of Knfield T, 418 

4, Cclche^ster Town Peoor", 16 

5. r?.-<aJ^i-^'^'' , hk^r irj;/3ohaeeet, 33 

«. Allen, Hietory df I^Jnfield I, 395 

7. V. ■■ 7ton, Hiflt'-ry of ^ta.^ford, 342 

6, f. f _n. History of 7'\terbury, ."^36 

9. Ibid, 

10, WUn, Hi'^tory of s:nfleld, I, 305 

II. Tod-i, Hi^?tory of T^ed Jlm^, 139 
1^. Bally, History of Dan bury, 341 

13. Ulen, Hi^jtory of ICnfleld T, 414 

14. Ibid. 



and thr'je for the new one.^ In Tianbury In X769 f-^jr** waa the 
Diatriot Corainitta* appointfJd for the TJown Town ''ohool, ons for 
tt\9 UiJ Tovn '^ohool, one for Beavor Brook ^chool, Oreat T>lain, 

Pembroke, iSto," 

I "Ria Inspection or the Viflitin5i Coifiialttee In the New Britain 

fnsFection 

Coolety of New Britain in 1772 oonaistod of seven men.'' In 17f)8 
:ommittee ♦ 

ju there were nine overaeere for tlie Inspection Coi'.mittee. From 

■ & 

■ 1753 to 1736 the care of the public sohoole in New Mil ford waa 
jverse'sra 

wholly with ths Flrnt Voolei=«i^??tioal "ociety.^ In I Ofi in town 

meg tin,:, it waa voted that a visiting oo.amittee of fichools in 
the several eohool dletriote be entitled to reoeiv« out of the 
fo'fln Treasury tho sum of '^,75 er day, and that eacV Bohool 

L b3 viaitel twice the en^iuin . year.^ The '^aoond ' oclety of 

l^indsor in 1717 had a vlaitln'^ committee of three and the New 



I 



7 

Britain r'ooiety in 17fi0 hai nine Overqeera. 

The law of 1717 reiuiro:^ the a^ pointment of a eohool 

3 
ooismittee of thr-^e from each ec^leeiietioal ^oolety, ' In exam- 
ining the town histories and reoorde, I found very little 
deviation from this nuniber. In Urj oa«e of -^tamford in 1736, 



=lchool 
Commit teee 

from 

tlie coiuraitt ^9 for the Middle portion or '"oolety of tHe town 

Scclsaiagt- 

ical conaiat'sd of tvo.''^ In 1744, in the same town, th« oo.cmittee 

'ocietiss 

a ; -'tiis to have corielHted of eleven soen. In th*? New Britain 

Society of New Britain, the oo-nmltt'^e in 1756 oonnleted of 
three's men, in 1757-5G of three, 1758-59 of three but in 1761 

of two toen, ^^ 

l.r2wn^,TTli3tory of nnc^e=Jter, ni8 

:\ Billy, HlHtory of ""anbury, 341 

3. Camp, History of Ne^ Britain, "17 

4. Ibid. 

5. Orcutt, ntgtory of New Mil ford, 478 

6. Ibid, 

7. Camp, HlHitory of N 3W Britain, -0 

8. Clewe, ?d, Legl>^lTHon of the Col.Oov, 90 

9. Huntlnf,ton, Hi.4tory of ^ta'f.ford, 347 

in. TMH. n. Oamn. Hiaf.rtrv of TJftw Britain. TtO 



Blblio^.rar hy of '^orY:^ -on«ultf?d 



T'rlmary '^ourofla 
1. Town ^^oordfl 

ColoheTt^r Town n«oord« 



TTartford 1^364 



2, Public Peoords 
Vol. V, By 
Vol. XIT, 

IT. Peoondary "ourcea 
1. Trvn Hi '.tori eg 






J. Hoadley, 17CG-171G TT^rtford ipfo 
J. Wc-iiley, 17C8-1716 TTartfcrd 1570 



Orcutt, * Hi'jtory of the '^ity of Bri 
lAnri-Iw^G New Haven, 



-t. 



Bally, 
Mien, 

f'h'jnok, 



A History of r'^rby, lG4?-lo..;0, 
"I'jtcry of '>Hnbury, 16/M-lft96, 
History of ^nfleld I, to l-SO, Lano^Bter 



History of Fairfl-^ld T, 1639-1.1 



^rrlngfidi4 1800 
New Yrrk 1395 

1900 



» New YcrVla89 



?'t'jiner,A HiTtory of Guilford A Mudlflon,Ealtim'ore 
Lovi, A Rletory of Hartford Hartford 

Oroutt, History of N-^jt Mll^ord 4 Brllajw^ter, 

17r;;-.ii;on Hartford 

Camr, A History of New Rrltaln, IG4C- 

l'f-3 New Britai 

O'lulkin^i, n ^i«itory of New London, 

lGl?!-lfiGn No* Londrn 

H'lll, History of Ncrwallc 
C^ulklnn, Hlintory of Norwich, from its 

poeoens^lcn by tha Indl^^na to 1866 Hartford 
Todd, A History of nediing, from nettle- 



from 
the 



1641 



ment to 'resent tlrae. 
Teller, Hletory of '^Ifl'^'^fleld, 
flr^t qet*-1errent until 
pr'^n«nt tine. 
Huntln>',ton, History of '^ tar. ford, 

to ^ r' sent tli*te 
Orcutt, History of Torrlngton 1737- 
Davia, History of "yalllngford, 1G70 

yr-^-ent tlfie 
BronflOn,Hl3tory of Taterbury 
?3tlle9, Hiotory of 'nclent Windsor I 
Rcyd, iinn-ilps of -Tlfich'jater 
Orcutt;, HlHtory of ^olcott, I731-li374 



Ne-r York 



Its 



to 



III, ;4iflio3llaneous 



Cle^n, iTducatlonal Le^^^lalation of the 
Colonl;^l Oovern .entd. 



?" tain ford 
A 1 bany 

J'erlden 
^aterbury 

Hartford 
'"terbury 



YTL^xaT Lyv^u^- 



1H97 
1914 

1383 
1889 

1B95 

1^66 
lfi«0 

1680 

18B8 
1878 

1870 
1858 

1873 
1874 



Barnard, "merloan Journal of ''ducation TV, Hartford 1370 



Ch*pt«'' IV. Comparlnon and ^^umrnary 



a«i to; 



I. L«>51 illation 



IT. Evolution of Oistrlot 



I, As to forw 

a, 'Single ''ohool 

b. Moving School 
o. Divid'*'! "ohool 

. , "or i.at ion of Di nt r i o t 

3. "tur-port 

4, m«»thod-^ of apportioning Funds 



5, CoHtJuitt^^a 



Legislation of the Three States 



In considering the legislation of the three states, 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut, one must bear 
in mind that New Hampshire was for thirty -nine years united 
with the Massachusetts colony, and that the law of 1647 in 
Ma8 8a(5husett8 extended to the former colony. 

The first law in Massachusetts which had reference to 
the district was passed in 1768 and allowed the major part 
of the inhabitants of any precinct tb raise money for schools, 
thus "setting off" a part of a settlement. In 17S1 the recog- 
nition of the parish in New Hampshire showed the first recog- 
nition of another unit than the town. In 1789, Massachusetts 
sanctioned the district formation, while in New Hampshire 
the power of the parishes to tax was the next step. This power 
was given to the Massachusetts districts in 1800, and in 1817 
they were made corporate bodies. In 1827 Massachusetts trans- 
ferred all the power of the town to the districts, in that 
the districts had the prudential committees to take charge 
Of all school affairs in the district. In New Hampshire the 
power to district was given in 1805, and as in Massachusetts 
was only the confirmation of a practice that had been steadily 
gaining ground for over half a century. In 1808 the district 
in New Hampshire was made a corporate body and in 1827, as 
in Massachusetts, there was legalized the Prudential committee 
to assiime control of the schools in their districts. 

The legislation in Connecticut took place vinder different 
conditions from those in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 



1701 an act was passed to the effect that the inhabitants of 
each town should pay annually the 40 shillings in every 1000 
lb. in their respective lists toward the support of a school 
master. Some of the towns contained parishes, and in 1717 
it was ordered that the ecclesiastical societies should receive 
the money collected. In this way the church or parish assumed 
charge (?f funds that belonged to the town as a unit. Where 
before the parish had been co-extensive with the town it now 
began to a-^sunie control of civil matters; it was becoming a 
district. In 1741 the Society Committees in the different 
towns received their proportion of the interest from the 
'ITestern lands. In 1750 the Committees from each society, when 
there was more than one society, were legally appointed. The 
law which authorized towns and societies to divide into dis- 
tricts was enacted in 1766. The laws of 1795 and 1798 marked 
the consummation of the district in Connecticut. By the former 
was created the "school society," separate from the old eccles- 
iastical society and to which was given the management of the 
schools. In 1798 each society was given power to appoint a 
number of persons, not exceeding nine, to be overseers or 
visitors of the school " to examine, approve and dismiss school- 
teachers. " 

So that while the district emerged in the states of 
Massachusetts and Mew Hampshire in the same general way, the 
district in Connecticut came into existence through the church, 
since it was because of the ecclesiastical separations and 
ecclesiastical separations with school privileges that the 
district formation evolved. 



The Evolution of the District 



The steps by which the district emerged were essentially 
the same in the three states. First there was the single 
school in the center of the town or settlement. As the popu- 
lation increased and spread outward, those living on the 
out skirt-s* found the distance too great to attend the school 
in the center, so the next step was the moving school whereby 
one master made the rounds, holding school a certain length 
of time in each section of the town. The inconveniences of 
this plan were so great in that each section naturally could 
not have so long a period of schooling when other sections 
had to have their turns. Moreover the length of their school 
term depended upon the Selectmen or a Pchool committee, so 
thalf.the number of inhabitants increased in these outskirts 
they would ask for schools of their own; hence the next step 
was the divided school where each section of the town had its 
own teacher. From the discussion of the evolution of the 
district in the three states, it is seem that many of these 
early sections of the divided school were granted such powers 
by the town that marked them as districts in their early 
formations. After they were granted the privilege of having 
their own teacher, they asked for their proportion of school 
money J or they began to select their own teacher, a duty which 
hitherto had belonged to the Selectmen or a General School 
Comraitteej they selected a place for the school-house and 
selected committees from their own sections to attend to the 
building of them, or to raanafje the school affairs in their 



sectiona. Thus they became districts although they were 
not so called. They were given other names as ajigles, 
divisions, parts, parishes, precincts, quarters, ricks, 
squadrons, streets, wards, dioceses, forts, claasea and 
societies. While in some cases these terms were used merely 
as geograj»hical locations in many instances, as has been 
shown in the preceding chapters of this thesis, these early 
sections of the divided school were forms of the district 
in that they had one or more powers of the district. 

In all these states, the laws authorizing the formation 
of districts only sanctioned a practice that had been 
steadily growing for years. In Massachusetts twelve forms 
of the early district, although not so called, were formed 
before 1768, twenty before the law of 1789 and twenty four 
before the law of 1827. Of thirty-eight towns that district- 
ed, using the word district, seven districted before 1768, 
fourtsen before 1789 and thirty-seven before 1827. In New 
Hampshire, before the law of 1805, out of t-.venty-one towns 
eighteen districted before 1805, beginning in 1739. In 
Connecticut ten towns had districted before the law of 1766. 

The principal methods of sch-ol support common to the 
three states were taxes, lands, donations, tuition and school 
funds. Taxes was employed more generally in Massachusetts 
than in either of the other two states. Donations was not 
found to be a source of support in New Hampshire, but was in 
Massachusetts and Connecticut. Neither were tuition fees 
depended upon in New Hampshire and Massachusetts as in 
Connecticut. Tuition fees were com.:ion in Jiassachusetts at 



an early date, but not late enough to affect the district. 

New Hampshire's school fund was the Literary Fund; 
Connecticut's came from the sale of the J^estern Lands and 
the Western Reserve. Massachusett 's school fund was establish- 
ed in 1834. 

Massachusetts differed from New Hampshire and Connecticut 
in the apportionment of the school funds in that: (1) she 
used a greater variety of methods in apportioning them, and 
(2) she used as her most prevalent method "according to the 
number of the children in the district" while the towns of 
New Hampshire and Connecticut distributed their funds mostly 
ty the proportion of taxes that each district paid in. Connect- 
ict had only four methods of apportionment: (1) according to 
the list, (3) according to the number of scholars, (3) equally 
and (4) unequally. Massachusetts had sixteen methods in all 
(that is, up to 1S37) many of which were combinations of the 
principal methods as "one half equally and the other half 
according to the niimber of scholars." 

In Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut, the 
Selectmen were the earliest school committee. Upon them 
developed various duties connected with the schools, as hiring 
the teachers, determining the length of the school term, divid- 
ing the town into parts, apportioning school money, moving the 
school-masters, etc. In the three states the next stage of 
evolution was the general school committee that took over many 
of the duties of the Selectmen; in Massachusetts, this committee 
consisted of from anywhere from one to eleven members, in New 
Hampshire of about five members and in Connecticut of from two 
to seven. 



As the towns began to feel the need of dividing themselves 
Into parts or districts, there emerged the districting committee 
to divide the town, f-oraetimes the duty feel to the Selectmen 
or the General School Committee. This districting committee 
was found in all the three states. 

The District, or Prudential Committee, was the highwater 
mark of the district, and as such had developed in Massachusetts 
seventy-four years before the law of 1827 authorized it to be 
formed as the "Precinct Committee" of Bridgewater. In 1798 
each society of Connecticut was to appoint overseers, to examine 
approve amd dismiss teachers, but before this date it was usual 
to appoint one man from each district to take care of that 
district. The District Prudential Committee in New Hampshire 
was authorized in 18S7, and as did the Prudential Committee 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut, emphasized the transfer of 
control from the town to the district. 

Other committees which were not so important in the 
evolution of the district, were the Central Inspection Com- 
mittees of Massachusetts and the Superintending Committee of 
New Hampshire, 

From my investigation I should conclude that the formation 
of towns into districts was not beneficial for these reasons: 

1. It lead to unequal distribution of wealth, as we have 
seen from the discussion of apportionment of funds in the 
three states considered, 

8, This unequal distribution of funds naturally resulted 
in unequal provision of advantages of education among the 
different communities. 



3. It lead to division of authority and control. Where 
before the town was the unit, the district becajne the education- 
al unit, thus decreasing and destroying central organization, 

4. In Connecticut, besides the disadvantages heretofore 
mentioned, the district combined ecclesiastical control with 
civil control Resulting in the apportionment of school revenues 
to religious bodies. 




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